tihvaxy  of  trhe  trheolo^icd  ^tmimvy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

William  L.  Ulyat 

BX  9225  .P77  F67  1846 
Forsyth,  John,  1810-1886. 
Memoir  of  the  late  Rev. 
Alexander  Proudfit,  D.  D. 


Sf.JPJd/ED  ST  r  -lASTAOl- 


^^^^^^(^5c^~:^.^t 


MEMOIR 


OF    THE    LATE 


REV.  ALEXANDER  PROUDFIT,  D.D. 


J    J^.ir.j 


WITH 

SELECTIONS  FROM  HIS  DIARY  AND  CORRESPONDENCE, 

AND  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  HIS  LIFE,  &o., 

BY  HIS  SON. 


BY   JOHN   FORSYTH,   D.D., 

MINISTER   OF   UNION   CHURCH,   NEWBURQH. 


KecpaATj  de  ndcrjc  aper^g  Kat  Kopv^r]  ruv  KaTopdufidruv  kc- 
TLV  7]  Trpoaevxv^  "KpoGKaprepriaLQ  •  61  rjg  koI  rag  "Xonrdg  uperag 
did  Trig  "^o-pd  QeS  airyaeug  dcrjixipai  KTdadai  dwd/xeOa. 

Macarii  Opuscula,  De  Custod.  Cordis,  p.  8. 


NEW-YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 
82   CLIFF    STREET. 

184  6. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1846,  by 

Harper  &  Brothers, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Southern  District  of  New- York. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS  AND  EDUCATION   ....     Page  9 

CHAPTER  H. 

EARLY    MINISTRY 33 

CHAPTER  HI. 

RESOLUTIONS 83 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DIARY SPIRITUAL    LIFE 94 

CHAPTER  V. 

PERSONAL    TRIALS PASTORAL    SUCCESS  .  .  .       146 

CHAPTER  VI. 

LATTER    YEARS       308 

CHAPTER  VII. 

RECOLLECTIONS-^LAST  DAYS  .....       308 

A  2 


PREFACE. 


The  following  pages  have  been  prepared  for 
the  press  in  the  hope  that  they  will  minister  to 
the  edification  of  the  Church  of  God,  by  exhib- 
iting the  labours  of  love  and  the  inward  experi- 
ence of  one  who,  during  a  long  life,  gave  living 
evidence  of  the  power  and  preciousness  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  "  The  memorials  of  the  good," 
it  has  been  well  said, "  constitute  one  of  the  most 
sacred  possessions  of  the  Church  of  God  ;"  of 
such  memorials  there  is  no  great  danger  of  an 
undue  increase,  especially  if  the  subjects  of  them 
have  been  distinguished  among  the  good  for 
their  activity  in  any  of  the  various  walks  of - 
Christian  usefulness,  or  for  their  patient  endu- 
rance of  suffering  and  trials,  for  their  active  or 
their  passive  virtues.  Every  such  record  is  a 
fresh  proof  of  the  reality  of  religion,  a  new  mon- 
ument of  the  rich  grace  of  Christ,  attesting  that 
the  same  Lord  over  all,  whose  grace  abounded 
to  saints  of  former  days,  is  still  equally  rich  to 
A  2 


Vni  PREFACE. 


all  who  call  upon  him.  On  this  ground,  the  au 
thor  of  this  memoir  thinks  that  no  apology  is 
needed  for  his  adding  another  to  the  many  vol- 
umes of  Christian  biography. 

The  last  chapter,  consisting  of  Dr.  Proudfit'a 
life,  and  an  account  of  his  last  moments,  is  from 
the  pen  of  his  son,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Proudfit,  of  Rut- 
ger's  College.  It  cannot  fail  to  be  read  v^ith 
peculiar  interest.  The  author  would  only  add 
that  the  selections  from  the  diary  and  corre- 
spondence of  Dr.  Proudfit  have  been  made, 
partly  for  the  illustration  of  his  character,  and 
partly  with  reference  to  their  supposed  interest 
to  the  Christian  reader.  Whether  they  have 
been  made  too  profusely  or  too  scantily  is  a 
point  which  must  be  determined  by  others. 
Having,  as  he  humbly  trusts,  undertaken  the 
work  from  a  desire  to  promote  the  glory  of 
Christ  and  the  good  of  his  Church,  he  submits 
it  to  his  fellow-Christians,  praying  that  it  may 
stimulate  all  who  read  it  to  greater  diligence 
in  "  the  work  of  faith,  and  the  labour  of  love, 
and  the  patience  of  hope." 


MEMOIR    OF    THE 


REV.  ALEXANDER  PROUDFIT,  D.D. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS  AND  EDUCATION. 

The  town  of  Salem  is  situated  in  one  of  the 
loveliest  valleys  of  Northern  New- York.  The 
village  stands  upon  a  plain  of  moderate  extent, 
through  which  flows  a  small  but  beautiful  stream, 
the  White  Creek,  so  called  from  the  singular 
clearness  of  its  waters ;  while  on  all  sides,  ex- 
cept towards  the  south,  it  is  skirted  by  hills,  cov- 
ered with  the  luxuriant  foliage  of  our  primitive 
forests,  whose  rich  and  varied  colours  constitute 
one  of  the  most  peculiar  glories  of  an  American 
autumn.  Away  in  the  east  are  to  be  seen  the 
lofty  summits  of  the  Green  Mountains  of  Ver- 
mont. In  approaching  the  village  from  the  south, 
and  when,  at  the  distance  of  about  four  miles,  the 
first  ghmpse  of  it  is  obtained,  one  can  scarcely 
avoid  the  impression  that  it  is  most  fitly  named 
Salem ;  for  the  eye  rests  upon  a  scene  of  rich 
and  quiet  rural  beauty  scarcely  to  be  surpassed, 


10  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  which  will  remind  the  observer  of  Gold- 
smith's fine  description  of 

"  The  loveliest  village  of  the  plain." 

Here  it  was,  that  Doctor  Alexander  Proud- 
fit  lived  and  laboured  as  a  Christian  pastor  for 
almost  half  a  century.  The  physical  beauties 
just  adverted  to,  by  which  he  was  surrounded, 
appear  to  have  given  a  tinge  to  his  character, 
which  displayed  itself  in  his  conversation  and 
his  writings,  in  the  dehght  with  which  he  point- 
ed out  the  evidences  of  divine  wisdom  and 
goodness  furnished  by  the  manifold  productions 
of  the  vegetable  world,  and  in  the  frequency 
with  which  the  illustrations  in  his  sermons  were 
drawn  from  the  objects  and  occupations  of  rural 
life.  ' 

He  was  the  fourth  son  of  the  Reverend  James 
Proudfit,  respecting  whom  we  have  been  enabled 
to  gather  a  few  particulars,  chiefly  from  a  me- 
moir of  him  which  appeared  in  the  Christian 
Magazine,  and  was  written  by  his  son.  Mr. 
James  Proudfit  was  born  near  the  town  of  Perth 
(Scotland)  in  1732.  Having  from  his  childhood 
evinced  a  serious  turn,  he  was  early  destined  by 
his  parents  for  the  holy  ministry.  After  com- 
pleting the  usual  course  of  study  at  the  Univer- 
sity, he  entered  upon  the  study  of  theology  un- 
der the  venerable  and  Reverend  Alexander  Mon- 
creif  of  Abernethy,  and  in  1753  he  was  licensed 


REV.      DR.      PROUDFIT.  11 

to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of  Perth. 
About  this  time  very  pressing  appHcations  were 
made  to  the  Associate  Synod  in  Scotland,  for 
ministerial  aid  from  various  parts  of  these  then 
British  colonies.  Mr.  Proudfit  vv^as  early  chosen 
by  the  Synod  as  one  whose  great  prudence. and 
zeal  eminently  fitted  him  for  the  work  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel  in  the  New  World,  and  he  was 
accordingly  ordained  to  the  ministry  in  1754, 
with  a  destination  to  North  America.  Shortly 
before  his  departure  he  had  the  offer  of  a  pasto- 
ral charge  in  the  city  of  Glasgow ;  his  nearest 
relatives  were  strongly  opposed  to  his  leaving 
his  native  land,  and  looked  upon  the  step  as  an 
utter  abandonment  of  all  his  worldly  prospects. 
His  sister,  when  she  saw  him  embark,  threw 
herself  upon  the  ground  in  wild  and  despairing 
grief;  but  he  was  inflexible  in  pursuing  the  path 
to  which  he  felt  himself  called  by  the  providence 
of  God,  and  the  voice  of  his  church.  He  could 
say  literally,  "  I  have  left  all,  and  followed  thee." 
Nor  had  he  ever  reason  to  repent  the  step  he 
took  ;  for  to  him,  and  to  his  descendants  has  the 
promise  of  Christ  been  fulfilled,  of  an  abundant 
reward  even  in  this  present  world.  He  reached 
Boston  in  September,  1754,  and  after  itinerating 
for  some  years,  planting  and  watering  congre- 
gations, he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Scottish 
Presbyterian  congregation  of  Pequa,  Pennsyl- 


12  MEMOIR   OF   THE 

vania.  In  this  charge  he  continned  for  a  period 
of  twenty-four  years,  when  he  was  called  by  the 
congregation  of  Salem  to  succeed  the  late  emi- 
nently excellent  Dr.  Thomas  Clark.  This  call 
he  accepted,  and  removed  to  Salem  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1783,  where  he  remained  until  his  de- 
cease on  the  22d  of  October,  1802,  in  the  sev- 
entieth year  of  his  age,  and  fiftieth  of  his  min- 
istry. 

"  Rarely,"  says  his  son,  "  has  any  person  oc- 
cupying a  public  station,  either  civil  or  ecclesi- 
astical, passed  through  a  long  life  with  fewer 
enemies.  His  disposition,  amiable  and  unassu- 
ming by  nature,  and  doubly  so  by  an  uncommon 
measure  of  that  wisdom  which  is  pure  and  peace- 
able, disarmed  opposition,  and  few  have  possess- 
ed a  larger  share  in  the  esteem  and  affection  of 
all  with  whom  he  was  associated.  Indeed,  low- 
liness of  mind,  gentleness  of  natural  temper,  ex- 
traordinary self-denial,  and  mortification  to  the 
world,  may  be  considered  as  constituting  the  dis- 
tinguishing features  of  his  character.  I  recol- 
lect as  I  was  walking  with  the  Reverend  Mr. 
,  who  had  been  for  many  years  a  compan- 
ion and  fellow-labourer  in  the  Gospel,  referring 
to  Mr.  Proudfit,  he  said,  '  that,  if  the  degrees 
of  glory  corresponded  with  the  degrees  of  grace, 
Mr.  Proudfit  must  possess  an  exalted  seat  in  the 
everlasting  kingdom,  for  he  was  the  holiest  man 


REV.     DR.     PROUDFIT.  13 

he  had  ever  knov^^n/  His  public  discourses  pos- 
sessed much  of  the  natural  gentleness  of  his  dis- 
position, and  resembled  more  the  genial  rains 
and  dews  which  distil  softly  on  the  earth,  refresh- 
ing and  fertilizing  it,  than  those  rude  storms  by 
which  the  elements  are  agitated,  and  the  order 
of  nature  disturbed.  Owing  to  this,  his  minis- 
try was  probably  more  honoured  for  the  edifica- 
tion of  saints,  than  for  the  alarm  and  conviction 
of  sinners.  He  had  an  almost  unbounded  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  such  was 
the  promptness  with  which  he  could  specify  the 
book,  and  the  chapter,  and  verse  in  which  any 
portion  of  divine  truth  might  be  found,  that  he 
was  usually  denominated  the  Concordance  by  his 
brethren  in  the  ministry  ;  and  when  any  in  the 
company  were  at  a  loss  where  to  find  a  partic- 
ular passage,  reference  was  immediately  made 
to  him."  His  anticipations  of  heaven,  at  the 
near  approach  of  death,  are  said  to  have  been 
very  remarkable ;  a  visible  glory  seemed  to  sur- 
round him,  and  he  asked  those  who  were  about 
his  bed  if  they  could  not  see  it. 

Alexander  Moncreif,  the  subject  of  this  me- 
moir, was  born  at  Pequa,  in  November,  1770. 
Of  his  early  years,  he  has  himself  left  no  writ- 
ten memorials  ;*  but  a  few  of  the  companions  of 

*  Among  the  few  reminiscences  which  his  childish  years  had  eri- 
abled  him  to  retain  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  during  the  whole  of 

B 


14  MEMOIR    OP   THE 

his  youth,  some  of  whom  were  for  many  years 
associated  with  him  as  office-bearers  in  the  con- 
gregation of  Salem,  still  survive,  and  from  them 
we  learn  that  he  was,  in  his  boyhood,  distinguish- 
ed among  his  fellows  for  a  spirit  of  activity  and 
resolution,  and  for  his  great  delight  in  those  more 
active  sports  which  indicate  exuberant  vivacity 
and  animal  spirits.  Some  of  his  boyish  adven- 
tures and  hairbreadth  escapes  are  still  mention- 
ed by  these  early  friends. 

In  his  thirteenth  year  he  removed  with  his  fa- 
ther's family  to  Salem,  and  soon  after  began  the 
study  of  the  ancient  languages  under  the  tuition 
of  a  Mr.  Thomas  Watson.  In  a  history  of  the 
town  of  Salem,  written  a  few  years  before  his 
death,  he  states, "  the  classical  school  opened  in 
this  place  was  among  the  earliest,  if  not  the 
very  first  one,  estabhshed  north  or  west  of  Al- 
bany.    This  was  commenced   about  the  year 

which  he  resided  at  Pequa,  he  used  to  relate  that  his  father's  fam- 
ily, and  that  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Smith,  their  near  neighbour,  had 
once  been  greatly  terrified  by  hearing,  late  in  the  night,  the  distant 
tramp  of  horses.  They  concluded  that  it  must  be  a  foraging  par- 
ty of  British  cavalry,  who  often  behaved  on  these  occasions  with 
great  cruelty.  After  a  brief  consultation,  both  families  fled  through 
the  rear  of  their  dwellings,  and  betook  themselves  to  the  woods, 
where  they  lay  concealed  until  the  next  morning.  The  first 
scouts,  however,  whom  they  sent  out  to  reconnoitre,  found  that 
the  light  horse,  whom  their  affrighted  imaginations  had  conjured 
up,  were  no  other  than  a  company  of  colts  from  their  own  farm- 
yards, whose  gambols  had  caused  their  alarm.,  and  the  loss  of  their 
night's  rest. 


REV.      DR.     PROUDFIT.  15 

1782,  for  the  education  of  a  few  youths,  self-de- 
voted to  the  sacred  ministry,  and  was  superin- 
tended by  a  Mr.  Thomas  Watson,  a  gentleman 
originally  from  Scotland,  and  profound  in  his  lit- 
erary attainments,  particularly  in  the  Latin  and 
Greek  languages.  In  the  autumn  of  '83  I  had 
the  honour  of  becoming  one  of  his  pupils.  After 
walking  the  distance  of  nearly  three  miles 
through  snows,  often  two  and  three  feet  deep, 
we  had  no  other  accommodation  for  our  school 
than  a  house  constructed  of  logs,  without,  so  far 
as  I  recollect,  a  single  pane  of  glass  entire."  Ex- 
cellent as  was  his  teacher,  and  it  deserves  to  be 
mentioned  that  under  him  the  good  basis  of  ac- 
curate scholarship  was  laid,  his  educational  ad- 
vantages must  have  been  comparatively  limited, 
as  the  town  of  Salem  had  not  been  long  settled, 
and  its  inhabitants,  like  those  of  other  parts  of 
-Washington  county,  had  been  compelled,  during 
the  war,  for  a  time  to  desert  their  homes.  In 
his  later  days  he  used  to  speak  of  the  few  and 
meager  school  books  then  in  use,  as  contrasted 
with  the 'greatly  multiplied  and  various  helps, 
enjoyed  by  the  young  student  of  the  present 
day.  _  At  the  same  time,  he  doubted,  and  we 
believe  justly,  whether  this  great  increase  in  the 
facilities  of  learning  does  not  tend  to  diminish 
the  freedom  and  vigour  of  the  youthful  mind  it- 
self    It  may  be  added  in  this  connexion,  that 


16  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

he  was  strongly  of  opinion,  that  the  early  years 
should  be  chiefly  given  to  spontaneous  growth 
and  development,  and  that  nature  must  not  be 
disturbed  in  this  process  by  the  officious  system, 
whose  constant  tendency  is  to  educate  too  soon, 
and  too  much.  Mr.  Watson's  school,  as  already 
stated,  was  some  two  miles  or  more  from  his 
father's  house,  and  he  was  often  obliged  to  go 
to  it  through  snow  two  or  three  feet  deep ;  to 
this  circumstance  he  was  accustomed  to  ascribe 
much  of  the  vigour  of  his  constitution  in  after 
years.  "  Wet  feet,"  he  often  said,  "  were  little 
thought  of  in  those  days."  His  physical  frame, 
though  slight,  was  one  of  uncommon  vigour, 
and  capable  of  enduring,  even  in  old  age,  an 
amount  of  labour  under  which  many  a  younger 
man  would  have  sunk.  He  was  also  distinguish- 
ed in  his  early  days  for  mirthfulness  and  hilari- 
ty, which,  subsequently  subdued  and  sanctified 
by  religion,  formed  one  of  the  most  striking  traits 
of  his  religious  character.  Throughout  life  he 
was  ever  disposed  to  be  sanguine,  and  to  look 
on  the  bright  side  of  things.  With  him  the 
star  of  hope  seemed  always  to  be  above  the 
horizon;  he  hoped  for  the  best,  and  was  accus- 
tomed to  say  to  those  with  whom  he  was  asso- 
ciated, at  moments  when  their  plans  were  on 
the  eve  of  being  abandoned  as  impracticable, 
"  something  will  turn  up." 


REV.     DR.      PROUDFIT.  17 

From  Mr.  Watson's  school,  Mr.  Proudfit  was 
removed,  about  the  year  1785,  to  an  academy 
at  Hackensack,  New- Jersey,  then  under  the  care 
of  that  emment  classical  scholar  and  devoted 
Christian,  the  late  Dr.  Peter  Wilson.  Here  he 
remained,  enjoying  the  best  educational  advan- 
tages which  our  country  then  afforded,  until 
March,  1789,  when  he  entered  the  sophomore 
class  of  Columbia  College,  New- York.  Dr. 
Wilson  was  about  the  same  time  called  to  oc- 
cupy the  professorship  of  ancient  languages  in 
that  college,  an  office  which  he  filled  with  signal 
benefit  to  the  institution,  and  honour  to  himself, 
during  the  remainder  of  his  life.*  He  was  a 
ripe  scholar,  and  to  him,  in  a  great  measure, 
may  be  ascribed  that  taste  for  classical  learn- 
ing, for  the  cultivation  of  which  Columbia  Col- 
lege has  been  long  distinguished.  Mr.  Proudfit 
continued  to  reside  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Wilson 
after  the  removal  of  the  latter  to  New- York, 
and  he  always  regarded  it  as  a  singular  happiness 
that  he  had  enjoyed,  during  so  many  of  his  early 
years,  the  intimate  society  and  the  instructions  of 
this  learned  and  excellent  man.  It  deserves  to  be 
mentioned,  as  alike  honourable  to  the  teacher  and 
his  pupil,  that  the  foundation  was  then  laid  of  a 
warm  and  close  friendship,  which  was  dissolved 

*  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he  ceased  to  perforin  the  ac- 
tive duties  of  the  office,  though  he  retained  the  title  of  emeritus 
professor. 

2  •  B2 


18  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

only  by  death.  At  a  later  period  (1799),  Mr. 
Proudfit  testified  his  high  regard  for  his  former 
instructor,  by  the  efforts  which  he  made  to  induce 
his  acceptance  of  an  invitation  to  the  presidency 
of  Union  College,  of  which  he  was  a  trustee. 
To  effect  this,  he  wrote  to  his  friend,  Dr.  John 
M.  Mason,  begging  his  good  offices  ;  but  Dr. 
Mason  replied  in  terms  which  showed  at  once 
his  warm  affection  for  Mr.  Proudfit,  and  his 
sense  of  the  loss  which  New- York  would  sus- 
tain by  Dr.  Wilson's  removal.  "  I  lament,"  he 
writes,  "the  resignation  of  Dr.  Smith,  and  the 
difficulties  you  have  to  encounter  in  procuring  a 
proper  successor.  Of  Dr.  Wilson's  quahfications 
no  man  can  doubt ;  but  I  fear,  or  rather  hope, 
you  will  be  disappointed  in  the  expectation  of 
obtaining  him.  You  know  that  I  would  do  any- 
thing to  gratify  you,  and  to  promote  the'interests 
of  learning  in  your  part  of  the  country,  that  I 
can  do  without  violating  my  conviction  of  pro- 
priety. I  must  be  frank.  Count  not  upon  me. 
Unless  Dr.  Wilson  volunteered,  and  were  anx- 
ious to  leave  us,  I  feel  it  my  bounden  duty  to 
give  to  every  project  of  removing  him  my  de- 
termined and  persevering  opposition."  The  of- 
fer was  declined  by  Dr.  Wilson,  who  thus  wrote 
to  his  young  friend :  "  I  am  greatly  obliged  by 
the  frankness  as  well  as  kindness  of  your  letter, 
which  I  received  only  a  few  hours  ago.     From 


REV.     DR.      PROUDFIT.  19 

Dr.  Smith  and  Dr.  Romeyn  I  have  been  inform- 
ed that  some  of  the  trustees  had  their  eye  upon 
me  to  fill  the  vacancy.  I  have  had  sufficient 
time  to  deliberate  on  the  subject.  To  no  per- 
son have  I  given  any  reason  to  infer  my  accept- 
ance, and  to  both  of  the  before-mentioned  gen- 
tlemen I  have  this  day  written  and  given  an  ex- 
plicit answer.  I  should  think  it  uncandid  to 
hesitate  in  declaring  my  sentiments  to  you,  as 
well  as  the  principal  reasons  which  influenced 
my  determination."  Having  given  these,  he 
adds,  "  My  comfort  is,  that  the  Lord  reigns  ;  on 
him  I  can  safely  rely  in  every  situation,  and  I 
must  believe  it  to  be  his  will  that  I  remain  in  my 
present  place.  May  the  Lord  reward  you  for 
your  friendship  for  me,  and  extend  and  promote 
your  usefulness  in  his  service." 

Of  Mr.  Proudfit's  collegiate  life  he  has  himself 
left  no  record,  nor  have  we  been  able  to  discov- 
er any  very  distinct  allusion  to  it  in  his  diary. 
This  want,  however,  is  in  some  measure  sup- 
plied by  his  venerable  friend  and  fellow-student, 
the  Reverend  Dr.  Milledoler  of  New-York,  who 
has  kindly  furnished  us  with  the  following  let- 
ter :  "  I  regret  that  the  information  I  have  to 
give  of  our  venerable  friend  Dr.  P.  is  so  brief. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  class  next  above  that 
which  I  entered  in  Columbia  College,  and  was 
associated  in  that  class  with  the  celebrated  John 


20  MEMOIR    OF   THE 

Randolph  of  Roanoke.*  Our  faculty  at  that 
time  consisted  of  the  Honourable  William  Sam- 
uel Johnson,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, president ;  the  Reverend  Johann.  Daniel 
Gros,  D.D.,  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy,  Chro- 
nology, and  Logic  ;  Peter  Wilson,  LL.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Languages  ;  John  Kemp,  LL.D.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  ; 
M.  Marcelin,  Professor  of  the  French  Language. 
I  ought,  I  believe,  to  have  included  J.  Chn.  Kunze, 
D.D.,  who  either  then  was,  or  shortly  after  was 
appointed  Professor  of  Oriental  Literature.  Du- 
ring the  three  years  passed  with  him  in  col- 
lege we  had  not  much  personal  inte-rcourse  ;  but 
I  have  a  very  distinct  recollection  of  my  re- 
spectful feelings  towards  him  (being  then  my- 
self, as  I  hope,  under  the  influence  of  the  fear  of 
God),  on  account  of  his  respectable  standing  in 
his  class  as  a  scholar,  and  his  general  deport- 
ment as  a  gentleman,  and  (as  I  believed)  a  Chris- 
tian. In  the  time  that  followed  our  collegiate 
career  we  were  for  many  years  separated  from 

*  Of  the  habits  of  this  remarkable  person,  while  a  student, 
Dr.  Proudfit  often  spoke.  During  his  residence  at  college  he 
seems  to  have  been  quite  as  eccentric  as  during  his  subsequent  po- 
litical career.  Though  he  paid  little  regard  to  the  authorities  of 
the  college,  and  as  little  to  the  studies  of  the  course,  he  was  not 
given  to  habits  of  dissipation,  and  in  his  own  way,  was  a  hard  stu- 
dent. His  studies  were  chiefly  directed  to  history  and  geography, 
in  both  of  which  branches  of  learning,  especially  the  latter,  his 
knowledge  was  singularly  accurate  and  extensive. 


REV.     DR.      PROUDFIT.  21 

each  other,  yet  brought  together  occasionally  in 
benevolent  institutions  for  the  honour  of  our 
God  and  Saviour.  Towards  the  close  of  his 
life,  I  had  more  frequent  intercourse  vsrith  him  at 
my  dwelling  in  Rutger's  College.  There,  he 
was  so  kind  as  to  make  occasional  calls  of  friend- 
ship. Sometimes,  after  engaging  with  his  whole 
heart  in  conversation  most  agreeable  to  Chris- 
tians, he  has  closed  the  door  of  my  study,  and 
requested  that  we  might  pour  out  our  hearts  at 
our  Master's  feet  for  each  other,  and  the  church 
of  God.  You  may  easily  suppose,  if  my  heart 
was  right  with  God,  how  I  must  have  loved 
him.  This  man  of  God  has  indeed  left  a  noble 
example  of  consecration  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  and  his  name  and  his  labours  will  long  be 
embalmed  in  the  grateful  recollection  of  a  very 
large  part  of  our  American  Zion.*' 

Mr.  Proudfit  made  a  pubhc  profession  of  re- 
ligion about  the  time  of  his  entrance  uito  college. 
In  a  paper  written  within  a  few  months  of  his 
decease,  he  thus  describes  the  manner  in  which 
he  was  led  to  give  himself  to  God :  "  I  was 
drawn  at  first  with  the  cords  of  love ;  found  an 
easy  transition  to  the  light,  and  liberty,  and  con- 
solations of  the  gospel,  without  suffering  in  any 
considerable  degree  the  terrors  of  the  law."  To 
this  may  be  added  a  statement  which  he  made 
to  his  intimate  and  valued  friend,  Mr.  A.  G. 


22  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

Phelps  (of  New- York),  a  few  hours  previous  to 
his  death.  He  was  speaking  of  the  wisdom  and 
happiness  of  a  Hfe  wholly  devoted  to  Christ,  and 
added,  recollecting  himself  very  dehberately, 
"  I  have  thought  so  ever  since  the  year  '90." 
Beyond  these  brief  statements  we  have  no  ac- 
count of  his  earliest  religious  exercises. 

From  the  letter  of  Dr.  Milledoler,  it  appears 
that  the  outward  deportment  of  Mr.  Proudfit 
w^as  such,  during  his  collegiate  residence,  as  to 
command  respect ;  but  he  has  himself  often  said 
that  the  state  of  religion  among  his  fellow-stu- 
dents was  wretchedly  low,  and  acknowledged  a 
sad  declension  in  his  own  spiritual  life  while  ex- 
posed to  this  evil  influence.  Such,  indeed,  was 
the  case  with  the  city  of  New- York,  and  the 
country  at  large,  and  doubtless  was  one  of  the 
inevitable  results  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
then  just  terminated.  During  the  occupancy  of 
the  city  by  the  British  army,  religious  institu- 
tions were  greatly  neglected,  all  the  congrega- 
tions (those  of  the  Episcopal  persuasion  alone 
excepted)  were  dispersed,  their  ministers  exiled, 
and  their  churches  desecrated.  In  addition  to 
this,  a  large  proportion  of  the  officers  of  the 
American  army,  (and  these  were  afterward  the 
statesmen  and  politicians  of  the  day)  were  deci- 
ded infidels.  Such  a  period  of  social  anarchy 
was  the  fitting  time  for  the  unrestrained  avowal 


REV.      DR.     PROUDFIT.  23 

of  skeptical  opinions  ;  religious  restraints  there 
were  almost  none ;  nor  was  it  possible  for  this 
class  of  men  to  feel  the  power  of  that  social  in- 
fluence, which  has  often  compelled  the  infidel  to 
keep  his  pernicious  sentiments  to  himself.  How- 
ever the  fact  may  be  explained,  certain  it  is,  that 
in  our  country  never  has  infidelity  put  on  so 
bold  a  front,  and  never  has  she  had  so  many 
open  advocates,  in  the  more  elevated  depart- 
ments of  society,  as  during  the  first  thirty  years 
after  the  war  of  the  Revolution.  Even  in  the 
schools  of  learning,  the  spirit  of  irreligion  was 
rife  ;  at  Yale  College,  it  was  so  in  a  remarkable 
degree,  as  we  learn  from  the  memoirs  of  the 
late  President  Dwight;  and  from  the  statements 
which  Dr.  Proudfit  was  accustomed  to  make  in 
his  later  years,  it  would  seem  that.Columbia  Col- 
lege, in  the  days  of  his  youth,  was  not  much  bet- 
ter. To  such  a  degree  did  this  evil  spirit  pre- 
vail among  his  fellow-students,  that,  during  .the 
greater  part  of  his  residence  at  college,  he  was 
almost  ashamed  to  be  recognised  as  a  Christian 
professor.  It  was  a  miracle  of  mercy  that  he 
was  not  swept  away  by  the  torrent,  in  which, 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  not  a  few  of  his  compan- 
ions were  lost;  but  he  was  saved,  to  be  em- 
ployed for  half  a  century  as  an  eminent  instru- 
ment of  making  known  the  riches  of  redeeming 
grace. 


24  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

From  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  he 
was  remarkable  for  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  his 
Divine  Master,  for  the  entireness  with  which  he 
devoted  himself  to  God  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son, 
and  for  the  earnestness  with  which  he  entreated 
men  (both  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press)  to  be 
reconciled  to  God.     There  can  be  little  doubt, 
from  the  manner  in  which  he  afterward  used 
to  speak  of  his  collegiate  days,  that  his  zeal  and 
devotedness   were   quickened  by  the   remem- 
brance of  his  former  unfaithfulness.     Nor  is  this 
an   uncommon   method   of  God's   providence, 
thus  bringing  good  out  of  evil ;  we  have  an  il- 
lustration of  it  in  the  history  of  the  two  most 
eminent  of  the  apostles,  the  great  apostle  of 
the  Circumcision,  and  the  great  apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.     How  remarkably,  for  instance,  are 
the  epistles  of  Peter,  (once  so  confident,  yet  who 
was  left  to  fall  so  low,)  imbued  with  an  humble, 
tender  spirit.     And  who  can  doubt  that  Paul's 
labours   in   the  gospel  were  rendered  all  the 
more  unwearied  and  incessant,  by  the  recollec- 
tion that  he  had  once  been  a  "  blasphemer  and 
a  persecutor,  and  injurious  !" 

Mr.  Proudfit  was  graduated  in  1792,  and  with 
the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  finest  schol- 
ars of  his  class.  The  prize  he  took  was  the 
Latin  Salutatory,  then  esteemed  the  highest  hon- 
our of  the  graduating   class.      Professor  Wil- 


REV.     DR.      PROUDFIT.  25 

son  told  his  father  that  he  was  the  best  Greek 
scholar  he  had  ever  had  under  his  care ;  Judge 
Webster  and  General  Williams,  the  members  of 
Congress  from  Northern  New-York,  paid  him 
the  most  marked  and  flattering  attentions,  and 
declared  at  a  public  dinner-party  about  the  time 
of  the  Commencement,  that  he  was  an  honour 
to  the  county  which  had  reared  him.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  such  a  sudden  accession  of  hon- 
ours, operating  upon  a  young  mind  accustomed 
to  strict  seclusion  and  laborious  study,  should 
have  awakened  within  him  ambitious  hopes, 
and  longings  to  which  he  had  been  previously  a 
stranger.  His  purpose  to  devote  himself  to  the 
holy  ministry,  which  had  been  formed  at  the 
time  of  his  entering  college,  or  not  long  after, 
now  began  to  waver.  While  his  mind  was  in 
this  state  of  hesitation,  he  called  upon  his  ven- 
erable and  excellent  friend,  and  accustomed  coun- 
sellor. Dr.  John  Mason.*  To  the  inquiry  of  the 
latter,  what  profession  he  had  determined  upon, 
Mr.  Proudfit  answered,  that  he  had  not  quite 
made  up  his  mind.  His  friend  instantly  pene- 
trated the  true  cause  of  his  indecision,  and  said, 
"Alexander,  if  you  leave  the  service  of  Christ  in 
the  ministry  for  the  pursuit  of  worldly  honours, 
he  will  raise  up  others  to  serve  him.  They  will 
obtain  'their  own  souls  for  a  prey,'  and  yours 

*  The  father  of  the  late  Dr.  John  M.  Mason. 

B 


26  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

may  be  lost."  The  evil  spirit  of  ambition  and 
worldly-mindedness  was  instantly  subdued  by 
these  solemn  and  somewhat  stern  words  of  a 
true  and  unshrinking  friend.  He  has  often  said 
that  the  impression  which  they  made  upon  his 
mind  could  never  be  described,  and  would  never 
be  forgotten.  It  was  the  voice  of  Christ  speak- 
ing to  him  through  the  lips  of  his  servant,  and 
saying  "  what  is  that  to  thee  ?  follow  thou  me  !" 
"  A  word  spoken  in  due  season,  how  good  is  it !" 
How  great  the  power  of  faithful  Christian  coun- 
sel and  rebuke?  not  that  which  speaketh  like 
the  piercings  of  a  sw^ord,  but  that  which  infuses 
the  balm  of  love  into  the  wounds  inflicted  by  a 
needful  and  wise  severity.  Mr.  Proudfit  ever 
afterward  spoke  of  this  interview  with  Dr. 
Mason*  with  deep  emotion ;  and  no  wonder, 
for  he  was  then  at  a  turning  point  in  his  history, 
when  a  single  false  step  might  have  proved  ir- 
retrievable. It  was  shortly  after  followed  by  a 
determination,  formed  in  a  more  distinct  and 
solemn  manner,  to  consecrate  himself  to  God  in 
the  gospel  of  his  Son,  and  often  has  he  express- 
ed his  joy  and  gratitude  in  the  remembrance  of 
the  decision,  which  a  gracious  God  then  enabled 
him  to  make.     "  O  !  I  have  found  Christ  a  kind 

*  This  excellent  man  was  called  home  to  his  eternal  rest  very 
soon  after  the  event  above  mentioned.  How  high  he  stood  in  the 
esteem  of  all  who  knew  him,  may  be  seen  in  the  fine  tribute  to  his 
memory  by  Dr.  Miller  in  his  Life  of  Dr.  Rodgers, 


REV.     DK.      PROUDFIT.  27 

and  liberal  master,"  was  one  of  his  frequent  and 
favourite  expressions. 

He  immediately  entered  upon  the  study  of 
theology  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  in 
whom  he  had  a  fine  model  of  all  that  the  Chris- 
tian minister  should  be.  And  destitute  as  he 
was  of  many  of  the  helps  enjoyed  by  a  stu- 
dent in  a  town  or  city,  he  ever  afterward  look- 
ed back  with  peculiar  fondness  and  delight  to 
those  earliest  days  of  preparation  for  the  min- 
istry, which  were  spent  in  quiet  study  and  de- 
votion among  his  father's  old  books.  It  was 
just  the  fit  place  to  "  give  himself"  to  prayer, 
meditation,  and  reading.  Far  be  it  from  us  to 
decry  or  underrate  those  schools  of  the  proph- 
ets which  have  been  established  in  our  country 
during  the  last  forty  years,  and  to  which  the 
American  Church,  in  all  her  departments,  is  so 
much  indebted.  Highly  as  we  estimate  their 
importance,  and  great  as  are  the  advantages 
which  they  furnish  to  the  candidate  for  the  min- 
istry, we  are,  at  the  same  time,  strongly  convin- 
ced that  he  would  lose  nothing  by  spending  a 
part  of  the  period  of  preparatory  study  in  the  quiet 
solitude  of  some  godly  and  experienced  pastor's 
library,  in  solemn  communion  with  Christ,  and 
earnest  converse  with  the  mighty  dead.  No 
doubt,  very  great  spirituality  of  mind  may  be 
attained,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  routine  of  stud- 


28  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ies,  and  the  incessant  bustle  of  a  large  semina- 
ry ;  yet  it  must  be  admitted  that  they  are  not 
very  favourable  to  that  close  self-communion 
and  self-inspection,  that  deep  personal  acquaint- 
ance w^ith  the  mysteries  of  Christ,  v^^hich  are  so 
necessary,  if  the  youthful  minister  would  know, 
beyond  all  perad venture,  that  unto  him  is  the 
grace  given  to  preach  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ,  and  be  able  to  say,  "  that  which  we 
have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you,  that 
ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us  ;  and  truly 
our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and  with  his 
Son,  Jesus  Christ." 

After  remaining  at  home  one  year,  he  return- 
ed to  New- York  with  a  view  to  attend  the  lec- 
tures in  divinity  of  the  late  Reverend  Dr.  John 
H.  Livingston,  one  of  the  most  learned  theologi- 
ans of  his  day,  and  one  of  the  best  theological 
instructors  with  which  the  American  Church  has 
ever  been  favoured.  In  taking  this  step,  Mr. 
Proudfit  was  only  complying  with  the  express 
recommendation  of  the  branch  of  the  church  to 
which  he  belonged.*     This  circumstance  is  wor- 

*  In  178G,  the  Synod  "  earnestly  recommended  to  young  men 
who  may  have  a  view  of  entering  into  the  holy  ministry,  to  pro- 
cure from  their  teachers  proper  testimonials  of  their  acquaintance 
with  human  literature,  and  that  they  attend  the  lectures  of  the 
Reverend  Dr.  Livingston,  professor  of  divinity  in  the  Reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  at  New-York,  at  least  one  year."— M^S^S. 
Records,  I.,  44. 


REV.     DR.      PROUDFIT.  29 

thy  of  a  passing  notice,  because  it  shows  that, 
with  all  the  seeming  exclusiveness  of  that  day, 
there  was,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  several  branch- 
es of  the  Presbyterian  church,  a  good  measure 
of  true  christian  Catholicism.  Mr.  Proudfit  con- 
tinued with  Dr.  Livingston  until  the  completion 
of  his  studies,  and  subsequently  maintained  with 
him  a  warm  and  intimate  friendship,  which  was 
terminated  only  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Livingston, 
who  closed  his  long  and  useful  services  to  the 
church  in  1825. 

In  1794,  Mr.  Proudfit  was  licensed  to  preach 
the  Gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of  Washington, 
under  the  inspection  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Synod,  the  presbytery  of  which  his  father  was  a 
member,  and  in  the  bounds  of  which  he  was  him- 
self spared  to  labour  for  nearly  half  a  century. 
The  following  extract  of  the  presbyterial  rec- 
ords, containing  the  subjects  of  his  trial  discour- 
ses, will  be  read  with  interest  by  his  old  friends 
in  his  former  pastoral  charge  : 

"  Mr.  Alexander  Proudfit,  A.B.,  formerly  a 
student  of  divinity  under  the  care  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New- York,  and  recommended  to  Syn- 
od for  license,  had  assigned  to  him  the  following 
pieces  of  trial,  viz. :  1.  A  popular  sermon  from 
2  Cor.,  v.,  14.  2.  A  lecture  from  John,  x.,  1-5. 
3.  An  exegesis,  "  An  reatus  primi  peccati  Ada- 
mi  proprie  imputatur  omnibus  posteris  ?"  A 
B  2 


30  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

few  months  afterward  the  following  pieces  of  tri- 
al were  assigned  to  him  by  the  same  body,  with 
a  view  to  his  ordination  to  the  holy  ministry, 
viz. :  1.  An  exercise  and  addition  (or,  as  it  is 
now  called,  a  critical  exercise),  on  Heb.,  i.,  3. 
2.  A  lecture  on  Psalm  iii.  3.  An  exegesis,  "  An 
infantes  fidelium  sunt  baptisandi  ?"  He  was  li- 
censed at  a  meeting  of  presbytery,  held  in  Gal- 
way,  Saratoga  County,  on  the  7th  of  October, 
1794. 

It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  Mr.  Proudfit 
has  left  no  full  record  of  the  two  years  which 
he  spent  in  the  formal  work  of  preparing  for  the 
ministry,  of  his  studies,  and  his  spiritual  exerci- 
ses. This  is  all  the  more  to  be  regretted,  be- 
cause, from  the  manner  in  which  he  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  the  sacred  office,  it  is  manifest  that 
his  mind  had  become  imbued  with  a  deep  seri- 
ousness ;  and  from  one  of  his  resolutions  adopt- 
ed in  1800,  this  appears  to  have  been  a  season 
during  which,  he  greatly  "  abounded  in  joy 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  Next 
to  the  diligent  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he 
loved  to  converse  with  the  great  Nonconform- 
ist theologians  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
especially  with  John  Owen,  of  whom  the  late 
Mr.  Cecil  testifies,  that  he  is  before  all  others  in 
his  ability  to  furnish  the  student's  mind.  Mr. 
Proudfit's  surviving  friends  bear  witness  that  he 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  31 

was,  during  the  period  before  referred  to,  and 
for  many  years  after  his  ordination,*a  laborious 
student,  rising  in  summer  with  the  first  dawn  of 
day,  that  he  might  devote  the  freshness  and  qui- 
et of  morning's  earhest  hours  to  undisturbed 
reading  and  meditation.  With  this  intellectual 
activity,  he  combined  the  diligent  cultivation  of 
the  heart ;  his  studies  were  prosecuted  under 
the  blessed  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  and 
many  an  hour  was  consecrated  to  the  solemn 
and  most  profitable  exercises  of  fasting  and  pray- 
er. The  happy  eflfect  of  such  a  training  for  the 
holy  ministry  was  seen  from  the  first  moment 
of  his  entrance  into  the  pulpit ;  it  was  evident 
to  all,  that  he  not  only  pointed  to  others  the  road 
to  heaven,  but  himself  led  the  way. 


32  MEMOIR    OP    THE 


CHAPTER  11. 

HIS    EARLY    MINISTRY. 

About  three  months  after  Mr.  Proudfit's  li- 
censure, he  was  called  by  the  congregation  of 
Salem  to  become  the  colleague  and  successor 
of  his  father.  This  call  he  accepted,  and  was 
ordained  and  installed  in  that  charge  on  the  13th 
of  May,  1795.  Such  settlements  of  "  a  son  with 
a  father"  in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  have 
not  been  uncommon ;  but  the  cases  are  by  no 
means  frequent  in  which  the  son  has  succeeded 
to  the  respect  and  veneration  in  which  the  father 
had  been  held.  There  are  grounds,  however, 
for  believing  that,  from  the  first,  Mr.  Proudfit  was 
"  esteemed  very  highly  in  love"  by  his  people, 
for  his  own  sake  as  well  as  for  his  father's.  No 
pastor  could  stand  higher  than  he  did  in  the  af- 
fectionate regards  of  his  congregation. 

Of  his  "  manner  of  entering  into"  the  pastoral 
office,  and  the  zeal  with  which  he  laboured  for 
the  salvation  of  those  "  among  whom  he  went 
preaching  the  Gospel  of  Christ,"  a  judgment  may 
be  formed  from  the  following  interesting  com- 
munication by  Mr.  John  M'Murray,  for  many 
years  past  an  elder  of  the  church  of  Salem  : 
"  Of  Mr.  Proudfit's  early  life,"  he  writes,  "  I  rec- 


REV.  DR.    TROUDFIT.  33 

ollect  but  little  ;  he  was  probably  about  thirteen 
when  he  came  to  this  town  with  his  father's  fam- 
ily, and  he  was  afterward  absent  a  considerable 
time  receiving  his  education.  Of  his  early  min- 
istry I  recollect  something.  I  remember  his  first 
communion,  especially  the  Saturday's  prepara- 
tory services  ;  he  had  finished  his  sermon,  and 
given  notice  of  the  distribution  of  tokens,*  when, 
coming  down  from  the  pulpit  for  that  purpose, 
he  stopped  upon  the  stairs,  and  commenced  a 
most  solemn  and  earnest  exhortation  to  intended, 
communicants.  The  language  of  the  address 
was  probably  soon  forgotten,  but  the  attitude  of 
the  speaker  and  the  sensation  produced  on  the 
audience  are  still  fresh  on  my  mind  ;  and,  al- 
though about  forty-nine  years  have  elapsed,  I 
can  now,  when  reflecting  on  that  old  church  and 
that  young  minister,  adopt  the  sentiment  of  the 
poet, 

"  '  Deserted  now  Ihy  fane  ; 

The  herald's  voice,  the  song,  the  prayer 
Are  silent ;  but  the  fragrance  still  remains 
Which  filled  me  there.' 

*  The  use  of  tokens  in  connexion  with  the  observance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  a  custom  peculiar  to  Scottish  Presbyterian 
Churches.  After  the  preparation  sermon  on  Saturday,  the  com- 
municants came  forward  to  the  foot  of  the  pulpit,  and  received 
from  the  minister,  each  of  them,  a  token,  which  is  just  equivalent 
to  a  certificate  of  membership.  The  custom  was  early  introduced 
into  the  Church  of  Scotland,  probably  in  consequence  of  the  vast 
multitudes  which,  at  that  day,  usually  assembled  whenever  this 
holy  ordinance  was  administered. 
3 


34  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

During  the  first  years  of  his  ministry  he  contin- 
ued this  practice  at  the  giving  of  tokens  ;  but,  by 
becoming  common,  it  ceased  to  produce  the  same 
effect,  and  he  omitted  it. 

"  I  recollect  his  tender  anxiety  for  the  Christian 
conduct  of  his  people  ;  if  any  of  them  were  guilty 
of  disorderly  conduct — and  in  those  days  of  the 
common  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  disorders 
would  occasionally  happen — his  wounded  feel- 
ings were  plainly  indicated  by  his  appearance  in 
the  pulpit  on  the  following  Sabbath  ;  and  while 
with  meekness  and  gentleness  he  would  expos- 
tulate with  the  delinquents,  his  own  emotions 
would  frequently  become  so  powerful  as  to  stop 
his  utterance,  when  he  would  sit  down  until  his 
mind  became  composed,  and  then  he  would  rise 
and  resume  his  discourse.  These  scenes,  when 
they  happened,  always  produced  a  solemn  effect 
upon  the  audience. 

I  recollect,  also,  some  of  the  plans  he  adopted 
in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth.  The  second  winter  after  his  set- 
tlement he  divided  the  congregation  into  four 
sections,  and  appointed  a  young  man  as  super- 
intendent in  each  section,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
keep  a  list  of  all  the  youth  in  his  district  who 
were  old  enough  to  commit  to  memory  and  an- 
swer questions,  and  also  to  see  that  they  all  at- 
tended the  public  catechising.     By  this  means, 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  35 

the  Shorter  Catechism  was  learned  by  all,  Muck- 
ersie's  by  most,  and  the  larger  by  many,  and  the 
Scripture  proofs  by  some.  This  plan,  in  time, 
gave  v^ay  to  others  ;  but  throughout  his  ministry 
his  attention  was  so  unremittingly  directed  to 
the  young  people  of  his  charge  that  it  was  said 
he  could  call  them  all  by  name.  He  had.  an  ar- 
dent attachment  to  social  prayer.  This  occa- 
sioned his  exertions  to  have  prayer  meetings 
kept  up  in  different  parts  of  the  congregation,  and 
he  always  expressed  his  delight  in  them,  not 
only  as  a  means  of  doing,  but  of  receiving  good. 
When  he  appointed  a  prayer  meeting  in  a  par- 
ticular district,  he  would,  during  the  forenoon  of 
the  day,  go  through  the  neighbourhood,  urging 
the  people  to  attend.  He  had  a  peculiar  facul- 
ty of  making  those  meetings  interesting  and  prof- 
itable ;  he  seldom  preached,  but  conversed,  ex- 
horted, prayed,  and  called  on  others  to  pray,  and 
catechised  the  young.  If  any  of  his  Christian 
friends  called  upon  him,  or  he  on  them,  and  a  suit- 
able occasion  offered,  he  always  proposed  pray- 
er. In  fact,  he  seemed  to  live  in  an  atmosphere 
of  devotion  ;  even  in  travelling  on  the  road,  pass- 
ing to  or  from  the  adjoining  towns  in  company 
with  any  of  his  elders,  on  coming  to  a  retired 
part  of  the  road,  he  would  say,  *  Here  is  a  pri- 
vate place  ;  let  us  stop  and  offer  up  a  prayer.* 
Several  of  those  places  are  hallowed  in  the  rec- 


36  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ollection  of  some  of  those  elders.  In  many  in- 
stances whole  families,  who  had  lived  in  the  neg- 
lect of  ordinances,  were  brought  into  the  fold 
of  Christ ;  and  for  forty  years,  though  many 
were  removing  to  new  countries,  the  accessions 
so  overbalanced  the  removals  as  to  occasion  a 
constant  increase  of  members.  I  believe  in  that 
time  there  was  no  communion  without  receiving 
some  new  members,  the  number  varying  from 
one  to  over  forty.  On  account  of  his  extensive 
acquaintance  with  Christians  of  other  denomi- 
nations, many  from  a  distance  often  attended  his 
communion  services,  and  were  always  received 
with  pleasure  to  the  hospitalities  of  his  house, 
and  to  the  communion  of  the  church  ;  among 
them  I  have  often  seen  young  divinity  students 
from  Massachusetts,  and  venerable  deacons  from 
Vermont. 

"  It  was  usual  to  give  tokens  of  admission  to 
the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  this 
place,  with  whom  we  were  acquainted,  when 
they  applied  for  them.  At  one  time  they  were 
disappointed  of  preaching  in  their  own  church 
on  the  morning  of  our  communion,  and  came  in 
a  body  to  ours  ;  the  doctor  called  the  session  to- 
gether, and  it  was  resolved  unanimously  to  in- 
vite them  to  unite  with  us  ;  their  elders  were 
furnished  with  tokens  for  the  people,  and  the 
members   of   the   two    churches   intermingled 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  37 

around  the  table  of  their  common  Lord.  It  was 
an  occasion  of  joy  to  many  pious  hearts,  who 
considered  it  a  pledge  of  the  time  when  their  One 
Shepherd  should  have  but  one  visible  fold. 
Many  who  united  on  that  occasion  are  now,  we 
trust,  associated  in  the  heavenly  temple,  among 
whom  are  three  elders  of  each  session,  with  the 
ministers  of  both  churches. 

"  I  recollect  that  the  services  of  some  com- 
munion seasons  commenced  at  ten  o'clock  on  the 
Friday ;  one  hour  was  spent  in  prayer,  then  ser- 
mon, then  an  interval,  and  the  afternoon  spent 
in  addresses,  exhortations,  and  prayers  ;  Sat- 
urday, the  same  ;  Sabbath  forenoon  was  devo- 
ted to  the  action  sermon,  in  the  afternoon  the 
communion  was  administered,  and  the  whole 
concluded  on  the  Monday  at  noon.  On  the 
week  days  he  had  the  help  of  as  many  minis- 
ters as  he  could  get :  on  one  of  those  days  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Tomb,  his  neighbour,  exclaimed, 
*  It  is  the  happiest  day  I  ever  saw  P 

"  When  there  seemed  to  be  much  excitement 
in  the  congregation,  the  doctor  would  invite 
those  who  wished  to  have  private  conversation 
to  repair  to  a  certain  part  of  the  church  ;  I  have 
seen  those  seats  crowded  with  persons  of  differ- 
ent ages,  asking,  with  tears,  '  what  they  must 
do  to  be  saved.' 

"  Mr.  Proudfit  took  an  active  interest  in  our 
D 


38  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

common  schools  ;  at  that  time  there  was  no  such 
office  as  that  of  town  superintendent  of  common 
schools,  but  he  faithfully  performed  many  of  the 
duties  of  that  office  ;  he  visited  all  the  schools 
in  the  town  every  year  ;  he  suggested  and  car- 
ried into  effect  the  plan  of  common  school  cel- 
ebrations, when  they  all  met  in  the  church,  each 
school  under  its  own  teacher  ;  addresses  w^ere 
then  delivered  suited  to  the  occasion.  He  con- 
cluded his  care  of  the  schools  by  making  a  do- 
nation of  the  Evangelical  Family  Library,  in 
fifteen  volumes,  and  a  copy  of  the  work  entitled 
^  The  Power  of  Religion,'  to  each  district  in 
the  town,  and  to  two  in  the  adjoining  towns  ;  he 
also  gave  to  each  child  in  the  congregation  a 
copy  of  the  Shorter  Catechism,  with  proofs." 

Some  of  the  facts  contained  in  this  commu- 
nication belong  to  the  later  periods  of  Mr.  Proud- 
fit's  ministry  ;  still,  the  whole  letter  is  quite  in 
place,  as  it  serves  to  show  that,  from  the  com- 
mencement to  the  close  of  his  pastoral  life,  he 
was  the  same  zealous,  painstaking  minister  of 
Christ,  ready  for  every  good  word  and  work. 
With  all  these  out-door  labours  in  pastoral  vis- 
itation, the  maintenance  of  prayer  meetings,  cat- 
echising the  young,  and  watching  over  the  com- 
mon schools,  Mr.  Proudfit  was  by  no  means  un- 
mindful of  the  apostolic  command,  "  give  atten- 
tion to  reading."     In  none  of  his  papers  are 


REV.    DR.   PROUDFIT.  39 

there  any  references  to  his  studies ;  this  we  re- 
gret the  more,  because  such  notices  enable  us  to 
mark  the  intellectual  progress  of  a  minister,  and 
to  ascertain  the  influences  which  gave  tone  to  his 
principles  and  character.  Still,  they  are  not  need- 
ed to  prove  that  Mr.  Proudfit  was,  what  every 
young  minister  must  become  who  desires  to  be 
greatly  useful  in  his  day  and  generation,  a  labori- 
ous student.  He  once  observed  to  the  writer  that 
"  no  divinity  student  could  study  harder  than  he 
did  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  ministry ;" 
at  this  period  he  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  two 
hours  before  day  for  the  purpose  of  study.  There 
is  a  letter  from  Dr.  J.  M.  Mason  of  New- York 
dated  6th  of  September,  1799,  which  indirectly 
confirms  the  above  statement,  and  helps  to  show 
the  range  of  Mr.  Proudfit's  reading :  "  I  wrote 
you  a  long  time  since  by  post  a  lengthy  letter, 
to  which  I  requested  a  speedy  answer.  It  seems 
to  have  miscarried.  I  mentioned  that  I  had  pur- 
chased for  you  Hume's  England  in  eight  vol- 
umes, bound  in  calf,  price  ten  dollars.  I  have 
also  on  hand  an  excellent  copy  of  the  best  edi- 
tion of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  Greek  and  Latin, 
in  two  volumes,  folio,  same  price  ;  and  also  a 
copy  of  the  works  of  Athanasius  for  five  dollars. 
Taylor's  Hebrew  Concordance,  I  found,  could 
not  be  procui'ed  new  for  less  than  sixteen  dol- 
lars ;  and  I  offered  you  your  choice,  either  to 
1)2 


40  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

take  mine  at  twelve  dollars,  or  to  have  the  one 
which  I  should  send  for.  It  has  arrived,  and  I 
now  give  you  the  same  choice.  I  have  paid 
about  sixteen  dollars  for  the  new  one."  The 
gathering  of  such  works  by  a  young  minister, 
in  a  remote  country  parish,  indicates  a  determi- 
nation to  make  himself  intellectually  a  well-fur- 
nished minister  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
members  of  the  Synod  to  which  he  belonged 
signified  their  sense  of  his  abilities  and  theologi- 
cal attainmer^ts,  by  appointing  him,  in  1798, 
within  three  years  after  his  ordination,  to  pre- 
pare the  draught  of  an  act  on  the  subject  of 
"  The  Kingly  Authority  of  Christ,"  which  is  to 
be  found  among  the  printed  Acts  and  Testimo- 
nies of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church.  It  con- 
tains a  brief  but  clear  statement  of  the  Scrip- 
tural doctrine  of  Christ's  supreme  headship  ; 
and,  like  all  the  other  productions  of  Mr.  Proud- 
fit,  affords  evidence  of  an  extensive  and  accurate 
acquaintance  with  Christian  theology,  and  of  a 
taste  refined  by  frequent  converse  with  the  most 
elegant  models  of  English  composition. 

The  letter  of  Dr.  Mason,  just  quoted,  leads 
us  to  observe  that  a  very  intimate  and  w^arm 
friendship  subsisted  between  that  eminent  man 
and  the  subject  of  this  memoir.  In  a  letter  da- 
ted New- York,  July  1,  1795,  the  former  thus 
writes :  "  Oh!  Alexander,  you  are  near  my  heart, 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  41 

and  deep  in  my  affections.  I  hope  our  friend- 
ship originated  in  Christian  principle,  and  has 
been  sanctified  by  the  good  Spirit  of  our  God. 
I  pray  it  may  continue  unimpaired  by  time,  un- 
destroyed  by  death.  Jehovah  Jesus  bless  my 
friend  and  support  him,  and  make  him  an  able 
minister  of  the  New  Testament." 

Their  fathers  had  long  been  fellows-presbyters, 
as  well  as  ardently  attached  friends ;  and  the 
sons,  for  a  short  tiaie,  were  fellow-students. 
Soon  after  the  entrance  of  these  young  friends 
into  the  ministry  they  commenced  a  correspond- 
ence, with  a  view  to  put  each  other  in  posses- 
sion of  their  spiritual  experience.  It  is  much  to 
be  lamented  that  these  letters  cannot  now  be 
fully  recovered.  There  are,  however,  a  few  of 
Dr.  Mason's  letters  still  remaining,  some  of 
which  seem,  from  their  tenor,  to  have  belonged 
to  this  series ;  they  will  in  any  event  be  read 
with  interest  by  the  friends  of  both  these  excel- 
lent men.     The  first  is  dated 

"  New- York,  4th  May,  1797. 
"My  very  DEAR  Friend, 

"  Your  affectionate  letter  of  the  6th  ult.  reach- 
ed me  nine  days  after  it  was  written.  Its  ani- 
mating and  evangelical  sentiment  I  found  not 
more  seasonable  than  adapted  to  enliven  a  drow- 
sy frame  and  cheer  a  dejected  heart.  Yes  !  my 
friend,  a  spirit  of  slumber  has  crept  upon  church- 
D2 


42  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

es  and  ministers ;  and  a  more  fatal  enemy  to 
solid  peace,  to  joy  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
to  successful  vigour  in  his  work,  can  hardly  as- 
sail us.  A  great  proportion  of  my  conflict  lies 
with  this  foe.  There  are  times  when  the  func- 
tions of  spiritual  life  seem  suspended,  when  ev- 
idences of  grace  elude  our  grasp,  and  the  very 
energies  of  intellect  are  fixed  in  apathy.  Yet  it 
is  some  consolation  if  we  have  sensibility  enough 
to  feel  that  this  is  a  wretched  condition.  I  am 
sometimes  so  foolish  as  to  imagine  that,  if  I  were 
rid  of  this  plague,  the  rest  of  my  burdens  would 
be  light,  and  the  rest  of  my  battles  easy.  But 
I  have  experienced  every  trial  to  be,  in  its  turn, 
infinitely  more  than  a  match  for  my  resolutions 
and  eflforts.  The  present  cross  is  always  the 
most  painful ;  and  it  is  no  small  part  of  our  sim- 
plicity that  we  are  more  anxious  to  throw  it  off* 
than  to  bear  it ;  to  exchange  it  than  to  have  it 
sanctified.  Yet  why  should  our  hearts  be  ap- 
palled, or  why  our  patience  exhausted  ?  These 
are  the  footsteps  of  the  flock.  Our  Captain,  the 
Captain  of  our  salvation,  hath  told  us  that  *  we 
must  through  much  tribulation  enter  the  king- 
dom.' Without  it,  we  should  have  much  bet- 
ter reason  to  question  our  sonship,  than  from 
our  united  temptations,  darknesses,  deadnesses, 
and  corruptions.  But  he  hath  said,  and  blessed, 
forever  blessed  be  his  name  that  he  hath  said 


REV.  DR.  rUOUDFIT.  43 

it,  *  my  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,  my  strength 
is  made  perfect  in  weakness.'  All-sufficient 
grace  !  strength  perfected  in  weakness  !  Well, 
then,  worm  Jacob  shall  thresh  the  mountains ; 
and  you  and  I,  oh  friend,  be  more  than  conquer- 
ors through  him  that  loved  us ;  how  delightful 
and  how  refreshing  !  Oh  for  faith  of  God's  op- 
eration, to  give  implicit  and  universal  credit  to 
the  veracity  of  Jesus  the  promiser  ;  and  worth- 
less, and  faithless,  and  treacherous  as  we  are, 
we  cannot  deny  that  he  hath  done  great  things 
for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad.  My  drooping  soul 
he  sometimes  brings  out  of  the  prison,  my  dried 
affections  softens  with  his  dews  of  blessing,  and 
with  all  the  reason  in  the  world  to  be  ashamed 
and  confounded  before  him,  I  think  I  can  say 
with  Peter,  when  I  have  nothing  to  say  of  at- 
tainments, '  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things,  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee.'  To  this  my  friend 
is  no  stranger  ;  and  if  we  love  him,  it  is  because 
he  first  loved  us.  Let  us  therefore  join  our  voices 
and  sing  of  the  mercies  of  the  Lord. 

"  Through  the  blessing  of  Jehovah,  my  congre- 
gation flourishes.  Peace  is  within  our  walls, 
and  prosperity  within  our  palaces.  Our  sacra- 
mental Sabbath,  which  is  just  passed,  was  com- 
fortable. Many,  I  hope,  could,  say,  '  truly  our 
fellowship  hath  been  with  the  Father,  and  with 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ.'     Adored  be  his  grace ; 


44  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

we  yet  see  he  hath  not  forsaken  Zion.  We  had 
twenty-four  new  communicants ;  above  three 
hundred  and  twenty  sat  down  with  us.  The 
foundations  of  our  second  place  of  worship  are 
laid,  and  the  work  goes  on  with  great  spirit." 

In  another  letter,  dated  New- York,  10th  Sep- 
tember, 1798,  Dr.  Mason  thus  writes,  in  refer- 
ence to  a  proposal  which  his  friend  had  made 
for  a  concert  of  prayer :  "  I  will  most  cheerfully 
join  you  in  consecrating  some  set  portion  of 
time  for  every  week  for  the  communion  of  saints 
at  the  throne  of  grace.  Seven  in  the  evening 
of  the  Lord's  day  is  an  hour  at  which  I  shall  be 
liable  to  the  least  interruption.  I  shall  meet  you 
at  the  mercy-seat  at  that  time  next  Lord's  day. 
In  looking  for  blessings,  should  we  not  begin 
with  our  own  souls  ?  I  desire  to  know  more  of 
the  fellowship  of  the  Saviour's  sufferings,  and 
of  the  power  of  his  resurrection.  I  need  spirit- 
ual-mindedness.  and  long  for  the  powerful  seal- 
ing of  the  Spirit  of  promise  unto  the  day  of  re- 
demption. Should  not  the  scarcity  of  labour- 
ers in  the  vineyard,  and  the  small  prospect  of 
their  increase,  lie  very  near  our  hearts  ?  Ought 
we  not  earnestly  to  solicit  the  Lord  to  pour  out  a 
Christian  spirit  upon  those  who  profess  Christ,  to 
break  that  accursed  worldly-mindedness  which 
is  the  epidemic  sin  of  the  professing  world,  and 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  45 

is  eating  out  the  savour  of  piety  ?  that  the  love 
of  Christ  may  constrain  them  to  bring  more 
wilHng  and  effective  offerings  of  their  perishing 
substance,  for  the  firm  support,  and  the  vigor- 
ous extension  of  his  gracious  kingdom  ?  Should 
we  not  supphcate  very  particularly  at  present 
for  the  sanctification  of  the  rod  to  our  sinning 
land  ?  Should  vve  not  fervently  intercede  v\^ith 
our  Father  in  heaven,  that,  while  he  blesses  his 
Church  at  large,  he  would  especially  favour 
that  branch  of  it  with  which  we  are  more  im- 
mediately connected,  by  keeping  us  from  the 
pride  of  growing  prosperity,  by  rendering  us 
awfully  cautious  against  the  dangerous  influence 
of  carnal  men,  by  preserving  unimpaired  the 
sweet  savour  of  the  cross  of  Christ  in  our  pul 
pits  and  families,  and  the  regular,  unaccommoda- 
ting exercise  of  spiritual  discipline  ?  Surely,  if 
the  Lord  delight  in  us,  he  will  keep  us  from  that 
dreadful  curse,  an  ignorant,  formal,  carnal  min- 
istry, which  will  infallibly  be  followed  by  a 
spirit  of  slumber  among  the  people.  Suppose 
we  take  these  subjects  in  course.  I  keep  a  mem- 
orandum of  them.  Add  others  as  they  shall  oc- 
cur, and  let  me  know.  It  does  not  seem  to  me 
for  real  edification  to  protract  the  immediate  ex- 
ercise of  prayer ;  perhaps  it  may  be  as  well  to 
begin  with  meditation  intermingled  with  ejacula- 
tions ;  to  spend,  say  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  this, 


46  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  then  to  join  in  prayer.     If  you  think  other- 
wise, tell  me  so." 

The  next  letter  is  dated  "New- York,  9th  Feb- 
ruary, 1799 ;"  and  though  unconnected  with  the 
series  before  mentioned,  will  doubtless  be  read 
with  interest.  Among  other  topics,  it  tells  of 
additions  to  the  Kbrary  of  the  writer's  rural 
brother,  and  thus  casts  some  light  upon  his 
course  of  study.  "  I  have  purchased  for  you 
Hume's  England.  I  have  fallen  in  with  some 
other  works,  which  I  mention  to  you  first,  viz., 
Athanasii  Opera,  2  vols.  fol. ;  Patres  Apostolici, 
ed.  opt.,  2  vols.  ;  Homeri  Opera  Spondani ; 
Plautus  Gronovii ;  Belsham's  George  III. ;  Tay- 
lor's Key  to  the  Epistle  to  Romans  (an  artful 
piece  of  heresy)  ;  Knox  on  Education,  transla- 
ted into  French;  Witsii  Exer.  Academicse  ; 
Seeker's  Works  ;  Le  Clerc  on  the  Religion  of 
the  Ancient  Greeks  ;  Bourdaloue's  Sermons  ; 
yea  or  nay  ?  I  would  gladly  have  visited  you 
during  my  banishment  from  the  city ;  but  the 
Lord  saw  meet  to  dispose  of  me  otherwise.  A 
severe  fever,  which  held  me,  with  a  very  short 
interval,  for  six  weeks,  reduced  me  to  such  ex- 
treme debility,  that  I  was  near  fainting  with  the 
fatigue  of  ascending  a  single  flight  of  steps.  I 
was  rapidly  restored  after  the  19th  of  Novem- 
ber, and  enjoy  my  health  at  present  better  than 
at  any  period  for  three  years  back.     The  Lord 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  47 

hath  sorely  scourged  our  city.  He  has  been 
gentle  to  my  congregation.  I  have  not  lost 
more  than  twenty  communicants ;  but  some  of 
them  were  wrestlers  in  Zion.  Among  the  vic- 
tims in  Philadelphia  are  Mrs.  Dick  and  her 
daughter.  How  near,  my  brother,  do  we  con- 
stantly tread  on  the  confines  of  the  eternal 
world  !  May  Jehovah  the  Spirit  so  teach  us  to 
number  our  days  as  to  apply  our  hearts  unto 
wisdom. 

"  Last  Tuesday,  being  the  5th,  was  observed 
in  this  city  as  a  day  of  humiUation,  thanksgiving, 
and  prayer.  The  solemn,  and  apparently  de- 
vout attention  of  all  ranks,  ^as  singular.  Busi- 
ness and  amusements  universally  suspended ; 
shops  shut  up ;  churches  crowded  ;  and  some 
tokens  of  the  Lord's  gracious  presence  marked 
the  day.  I  preached  the  whole  day  from  the 
first  part  of  Psalm  Ixv.,  5.  May  the  good  Lord 
grant  the  prayers  which  were  assuredly  sent  up 
to  the  throne  by  multitudes  who  know  what  it 
means  to  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  My 
most  cordial  respects  to  your  venerable  father. 
My  soul  triumphs  in  the  grave  but  glorious 
spectacle  of  an  aged  believer  on  the  eve  of  be- 
ing gathered  to  his  rest,  like  a  shock  of  corn  fully 
ripe  for  the  harvest.  '  Well  done,'  from  the 
grace-speaking  lips  of  Jesus,  will  a  thousand  fold 
repay  the  toils  and  troubles  of  his  pilgrimage 


48  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

here.  It  is  good  ;  it  is  pleasant ;  it  is  blessed. 
A  Christian  departing  to  be  with  Christ !  How 
rapturous  !  how  divine  !  Be  it  my  portion,  O 
Saviour,  and  call  me  when  thou  wilt.  Let  us^ 
also;  press  towards  the  mark.  We  have  so 
many  accursed  plagues  about  these  sinful  hearts, 
that  it  seems  to  require  but  a  little  grace  to  look 
out  wistfully  for  the  day  of  deHverance.  Oh ! 
it  is  coming,  and  then  we  shall  indeed  sing  to 
him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins 
in  his  own,  yea,  his  own  most  precious  blood. 
The  Lord  Jesus  be  with  your  spirit.     Pray  for 

your  friend  and  brother,  J.  M.  Mason." 

•» 

In  another  letter,  written  a  few  months  after 
the  above,  Dr.  Mason  says,  "  I  thank  you  for 
your  kind  note,  and  your  good  sermon  on  family 
religion.  The  Lord  the  Spirit  bless  it  for  the 
purposes  for  which  it  was  penned  and  print- 
ed." 

The  sermon  here  referred  to  was  one  of  the 
first  of  Mr.  Proudfit's  publications.  It  appears 
to  have  been  preached  by  him  on  a  New- Year's 
day,  and  was  published  chiefly  for  the  purpose 
of  gratuitous  circulation,  in  the  first  instance, 
among  his  own  people,  and  subsequently  among 
the  destitute  inhabitants  of  the  frontier  settle- 
ments. In  those  days  tract  societies  were  un- 
known ;  religious  books  were  much  more  ex- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  49 

pensive  than  they  now  are,  and  were  very- 
scarce,  especially  in  districts  so  remote  from  the 
larger  towns  and  cities  as  that  in  which  Mr. 
Proudfit  was  called  to  labour. 

His  publications  were  designed  to  supply  this 
want ;  for  several  years  in  succession  he  was 
accustomed  to  print  some  small  practical  work 
from  his  own  pen,  or  to  republish  some  of  the 
precious  remains  of  a  former  age  for  gratuitous 
distribution  as  New- Year's  presents  ;*  and,  chan- 
ged as  are  the  circumstances  of  ministers  in  the 
present  day  from  those  of  the  last  generation, 
we  have  no  doubt  that  the  usefulness  of  many 
a  pastor  would  be  considerably  increased  by  his 
occasionally  addressing  his  people  in  the  same 
way  through  the  medium  of  the  press.  This 
first  publication  of  Mr.  Proudfit  is  a  plain,  seri- 
ous, practical  exposition  of  the  duty  of  Family 
Religion,  and  of  the  advantages  resulting  from 
its  faithful  performance.  Besides  the  daily  wor- 
ship of  God,  he  strongly  urges  the  occasional 
observance  of  the  exercises  of  fasting,  humilia- 
tion, and  prayer.  "  This  exercise,"  says  he, 
"  has  frequently  been  observed  by  the  righteous 
with  visible  and  eminent  success  ;  evidences  of 
the  Lord's  wrath  have  been  removed,  and  the 

*  Among  these  were  Guthrie's  Trial  of  a  Saving  Interest  in 
Christ,  The  Spiritual  Tradesman,  and  Owen  on  Forgiveness, 
which  were  published  chiefly  at  his  own  expense. 

4  E 


50  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

light  of  his  countenance  restored.  Does  the 
hand  of  the  Almighty  lie  heavy  upon  our  hab- 
itation ;  have  we  been  visited  by  any  remarka- 
ble adversity  ;  do  the  movements  of  Providence 
appear  dark,  so  that  we  cannot  find  our  path  ; 
or  is  there  some  singular  blessing  which  we  de- 
sire to  obtain  :  these  are  proper  seasons  for 
families  to  approach  the  Lord  in  the  solemnities 
of  fasting  and  humiliation  ;  to  inquire  by  special 
prayer  what  is  the  ground  of  his  controversy, 
imploring  him  to  discover  to  us  our  secret  faults, 
which  are  the  cause  of  his  indignation,  and  in 
deserved  wrath  to  remember  mercy.  It  is 
equally  proper,  as  circumstances  require,  to  sep- 
arate days  for  the  exercises  of  thanksgiving  and 
praise.  If  our  condition  is  particularly  prosper- 
ous, if  our  families  enjoy  health  when  disease 
and  death  wave  their  banner  round,  or  if  we  are 
visited  of  the  Lord  with  his  covenant  consola- 
tions, it  becomes  us  as  a  family  to  unite  in  pre- 
senting the  sacrifice  of  adoration  and  thanksgiv- 
ing." In  these  exercises  he  may  be  truly  said 
to  have  abounded,  as  his  diary  proves,  from  the 
earlier  years  of  his  ministry  until  the  close  of 
life  ;  he  could  thus,  from  his  own  experience, 
testify  to  their  excellence  and  value. 

The  next  letter  of  Dr.  Mason,  and  which,  from 
its  tenour,  appears  to  belong  to  the  series  before 
mentioned,  is  dated 


REV.   DR.   TROUDFIT.  51 

"  New- York,  February  19,  1799. 
"  My  very  DEAR  Brother, 
"  Your  letter  of  the  6th  came  to  hand  on  the 
14th,  and  that  of  the  9th  yesterday.  I  feel  not 
a  Httle  affected  by  the  dispensation  of  holy 
Providence  towa;rds  you  ;  but  I  desire  to  rejoice 
in  your  joy,  that  though  you  went  through  fire 
and  through  v^ater,  yet  He  brought  you  to  a 
wealthy  place.  Oh  !  my  brother,  it  is  our  Father 
who  smites,  and  every  rod  of  his  correction 
grows  upon  the  Tree  of  Life.  I  can  sing  of  his 
mercies.  I,  too,  can  remember  the  days  of  the 
right  hand  of  the  Most  High.  I,  too,  know,  I 
trust,  something  of  the  gracious  experience 
which  teaches  to  glorify  him  in  the  fires,  which 
makes  the  cross  most  precious,  and  makes  us 
spurn  the  exchange  of  our  afflictions  with  all 
the  pleasures  of  sin.  When  he  laid  me  down 
during  my  late  exile  in  a  burning  fever,  he 
thought  of  his  promise,  and  made  my  bed.  The 
power  of  his  consolations  was  beyond  expres- 
sion. He  revealed  himself  to  me  in  the  glory 
of  his  Word,  as  God,  even  my  own  God.  I  had 
for  several  hours,  on  a  night  never  to  be  forgot- 
ten, no  liberty  to  utter  aught  but  '  bless  the  Lord, 
O  my  soul !'  The  savour  of  it  remains  with 
me  still ;  these  are  precious  pledges  that  he  will 
perform  his  word  to  us,  and  bring  us  at  last  into 
his  heavenly  kingdom.     Oh  !  how  divine  !  how 


52  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

overwhelming !  My  soul  doth  magnify  the 
Lord,  my  spirit  rejoiceth  in  God  my  Saviour. 
Yet  a  little  while,  my  dear  friend,  and  we  shall 
see  him  as  he  is,  and  shall  learn  to  shout  as  we 
cannot  now  conceive,  salvation  to  him  that  sit- 
teth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb.  Halle- 
lujah. 

"  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  comforting  mis- 
sionary sermon.     The  good  Lord  bless  it." 

The  providence  to  which  reference  is  made 
in  the  beginning  of  this  letter  is  not  known,  the 
letter  of  Mr.  Proudfit  in  which  it  is  described 
not  having  been  preserved,  and  there  being  no 
account  of  it  in  any  of  his  remaining  papers.* 
The  sermon  spoken  of  was  preached  in  Troy, 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Northern  Missionary 
Society,  an  institution  of  which  Mr.  Proudfit  was 
one  of  the  founders,  and  during  its  whole  exist- 
ence was  one  of  its  most  active  friends. 

This  missionary  society  was  one  of  the  first 
of  the  kind  formed  in  this  state.  It  was  found- 
ed on  a  liberal  basis,  and  was  composed  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod,  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church,  who  for  many  years  co-operated  very 
harmoniously  in  supplying  the  wants  of  North- 

*  Dr.  Mason,  we  are  informed,  was  not  in  the  habit  of  preserv- 
ing the  letters  received  from  his  correspondents,  nor  his  own. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  53 

em  and  Western  New- York.  There  seems  to 
have  been,  at  this  period,  but  little  of  that  secta- 
rian spirit  which,  of  late  years,  has  so  complete- 
ly infused  itself  into  all  our  domestic  missionary 
operations,  and  is  gradually  separating  into  dis- 
tinct parties  even  those  who  for  many  years  co- 
operated for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  among  pa- 
gan nations. 

Mr.  Proud  fit  preached  the  sermon  at  the  first 
annual  meeting  of  the  society,  in  Troy,  Februa- 
ry 8th,  1798  ;  and,  by  particular  request,  repeat- 
ed it  in  Albany,  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  soci- 
ety, March  6th,  1798.  The  sermon  (on  Mark, 
xvi.,  15)  is  entitled  "  The  Gospel  designed  for 
all  Nations,"  and  it  deserves  notice  both  for  its 
own  intrinsic  excellence,  and  as  an  exponent  of 
the  theological  and  literary  attainments  of  the 
youthful  preacher.  The  points  discussed  are, 
the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  the  extent  of  its  oflfers, 
the  obligation  to  attempt  its  universal  diflfusion, 
and  the  encouragements  to  engage  in  the  work : 
in  the  discussion  of  the  first  two  points,  the  au- 
thor shows  that  his  own  views  of  the  Gospel  were 
definite  and  clear,  and  he  brings  out  the  peculiar 
principles  of  the  evangelical  system  with  a  dis- 
tinctness which,  it  is  to  be  feared,  would  not  be 
altogether  to  the  taste  of  many  a  missionary  au- 
dience in  the  present  day.  But  at  that  period 
the  doctrinal  difl^erences  which  have  since  aris- 
E2 


54  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

en  among  the  different  classes  of  Presbyterians 
were  almost  unknown  ;  the  pecuHarities  of  New- 
England  theology  were  at  that  time  almost 
wholly  confined  to  New-England,  and  hence,  in 
all  the  missionary  sermons  preached  at  the  an- 
niversaries of  the  societies  in  this  state,  there  is 
a  much  fuller  exhibition  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel,  as  held  by  the  Reformers  and  the  Non- 
conformists, than  would  be  deemed  quite  proper 
in  a  modern  sermon  before  a  mixed  audience. 
Between  the  missionary  sermons  preached  at 
the  commencement  of  the  present  century  and 
those  of  the  present  day  there  is  a  marked  dif- 
ference, and,  in  our  judgment,  the  difference  is 
decidedly  in  favour  of  the  former  ;  they  are 
much  more  to  our  taste  than  the  latter,  because 
of  their  richer  evangelical  unction ;  because  they 
more  fully  unfold  the  nature  of  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.  Other  topics  may  furnish  a  better  field 
for  the  display  of  the  preachers  ingenuity ;  but 
surely  it  must  be  owned  that  the  Gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God  possesses  the  mightiest  power  to 
awaken  the  sympathies,  and  to  call  out  the  vig- 
orous exertions  of  the  Christian  in  behalf  of  the 
millions  in  the  dark  lands  of  paganism  who  are 
perishing  for  lack  of  vision.  This  first  mission- 
ary sermon  of  Mr.  Proudfit,  while  admirably 
calculated  to  build  up  those  who  heard  it  in  their 
most  holv  faith,  was  no  less  calculated  to  ani- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  55 

mate  them  with  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  at  home  and  abroad. 

There  was  another  institution  established  in 
the  year  1796,  in  whose  prosperity  Mr.  Proudfit 
took  a  deep  interest ;  we  refer  to  Union  College. 
This  was  the  first  undenominational  college 
formed  in  the  United  States.  Whether  Mr. 
Proudfit  can  be  considered  as  one  of  its  found- 
ers we  have  not  the  means  of  determining ;  but 
he  was  one  of  its  earliest  friends  and  trustees, 
and  he  continued  an  active  member  of  the  board 
until  his  decease.  For  many  years  he  was  in 
the  habit  of  attending  the  examinations,  taking 
an  active  share  in  the  exercises  on  such  occa- 
sions, and  frequently  closing  them  with  an  af- 
fectionate and  paternal  address  to  the  students. 

In  the  former  chapter  it  was  mentioned  that 
Mr.  Proudfit  gave  evidence  of  the  high  regard 
in  which  he  held  his  old  instructer,  Dr.  Peter 
Wilson,  by  the  efforts  which  he  made  to  obtain 
the  services  of  that  excellent  man  as  president 
of  Union  College,  on  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Smith 
in  1800.  That  was  a  very  critical  period  in 
the  history  of  the  college  ;  and  there  is  a  curious 
letter  to  Mr.  Proudfit  from  the  late  Reverend  I. 
B.  Johnson,  then  of  Albany,  which  may  be  here 
introduced,  as  showing  some  of  the  difficulties 
in  which  the  college  was  then  placed,  and  the 
active  part  which  Mr.  Proudfit  took  in  its  af- 
fairs. 


56  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

"Albany,  September  19,  1801. 
"My  dear  Friend, 

"I  was  sorry  not  to  have  met  with  you  at 
Schenectady,  when  the  trustees  of  the  college 
last  convened.  But  perhaps  I  ought  now  to  be 
glad  on  that  account ;  for  we  wanted  but  one  to 
make  a  board,  and  if  you  or  any  other  thirteenth 
member  had  been  present,  we  might  have  pro- 
ceeded to  choose  a  president,  and  would  prob- 
ably have  been  precipitate  in  the  choice.  I  am 
led  to  this  conclusion  for  reasons  which  will  de- 
velop themselves  in  the  following  statement  of 
facts  : 

"  Although  only  twelve  of  the  trustees  ap- 
peared in  their  room,  yet  we  thought  it  well  to 
confer  a  little  about  the  proper  person  to  suc- 
ceed Dr.  Edwards,  deceased.  Many  were  men- 
tioned ;  but  it  appears  that  Dr.  Green,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  Dr.  Maxcy,  of  Rhode  Island  Col- 
lege, commanded  a  large  preponderance  of  opin- 
ion in  their  favour.  I  thought,  however,  that 
Dr.  M.  bid  fair  to  be  the  successful  candidate. 
It  appeared  reasonable  to  me,  therefore,  to  com- 
municate what  I  knew  of  these  gentlemen,  and 
to  solicit  for  myself  and  the  other  gentlemen 
such  additional  information  as  it  might  be  in  the 
power  of  any  member  present  to  give.  My 
thoughts  were  freely  expressed.  I  mentioned 
two  objections  to  Dr.  M. :  the  first,  that  he  was 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  57 

a  Baptist.  This,  it  was  said,  might  be  no  ob- 
jection to  us,  as  it  was  not  particularly  to  me ; 
but  that  the  influence  of  such  a  man  would  be 
unpropitious  to  the  prosperity  of  the  institution, 
for  that  the  support  of  the  college  must  be  deri- 
ved chiefly  from  those  who  were  opposed  to  the 
Baptist  persuasion,  and  perhaps  had  no  incon- 
siderable prejudice  against  them.  The  second 
difficulty  I  stated  was  of  a  political  nature.  A 
gentleman  present  had,  a  good  while  ago,  told 
me  of  an  oration,  delivered  by  President  Maxcy 
on  the  fourth  of  July,  which  was  praised  as  con- 
taining some  of  the  most  brilliant  expressions 
and  keen  sarcasms,  &c.,  against  the  anti-feder- 
alists, I  had  ever  seen.  From  this  I  remarked, 
that  he  appeared  to  be  a  violent  politician,  who 
would  have  the  support  of  a  party  only ;  where- 
as the  state  of  literature  required  that  he  should 
be  acceptable  to  the  great  body  of  society. 
These  observations  having  been  made  by  me, 
Mr.  Nott,  from  whom  only  I  had  got  my  in- 
formation respecting  Dr.  Maxcy,  mentioned  that 
he  was  liked  by  both  parties  in  Rhode  Island ; 
and  that,  as  an  evidence  of  this,  while  others 
had  been  assailed  in  the  ne;^spapers,  he  had  es- 
caped. Upon  the  whole,  after  some  additional 
observations  on  the  subject  of  his  religious  per- 
suasion, we  seemed  to  agree  that  he  was  the 
best  man  we  could  get,  and  my  own  mind  was 


58  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

almost  determined  to  decide  for  him  ;  and  I  ex- 
pected, when  the  Board  adjourned,  that  I  should 
at  the  next  meeting  give  him  my  vote  and  sup- 
port. In  the  evening,  however,  calling  at  Pro- 
fessor Allen's,  I  found  that  he  had,  and  would 
lend  to  me,  certain  publications,  *  Addresses, 
Sermons,'  &c.,  of  President  Maxcy.  I  was  glad 
of  this  opportunity,  in  order  to  form  an  opinion 
of  his  abilities  as  a  writer,  for  it  was  as  a  fine 
writer  that  he  had  been  chiefly  praised.  I  found 
he  had  some  imagination,  and  sometimes  produ- 
ced a  glowing  expression ;  but  I  also  met  with 
'  new  English'  words,  outlandish  idioms,  incor- 
rect or  unphilosophical  notions,  &c.,  such  as 
'  energize,' '  circumferential.'  But  this  is  nothing. 
A  preface  to  a  sermon,  republished  in  June, 
1796,  contains  the  following  observation:  'The 
only  thing  essential  to  Christian  union  is  love,  or 
benevolent  affection.  It  is,  therefore,  with  me, 
a  fixed  principle,  to  censure  no  man  except  for 
immorality.'  'An  entire  coincidence  in  senti- 
ment, even  in  important  doctrines,  is  by  no 
means  essential  to  Christian  society,  or  the  at- 
tainment of  eternal  felicity.  How  many  are 
there,  who  appear  to  have  been  subjects  of  re- 
generation, who  have  scarcely  an  entire  com- 
prehensive view  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible. 
Will  the  gates  of  Paradise  be  barred  against 
these  because  they  did  not  possess  the  penetra- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  59 

ting  sagacity  of  an  Edwards  ?  or  shall  the  great 
theological  champions  engross  heaven,  and  shout 
hallelujahs  from  its  walls,  while  a  Priestley,  a 
Price,  and  a  Winchester,  merely  for  difference 
in  opinion,  though  pre-eminent  in  virtue,  must 
sink  into  the  regions  of  darkness  and  painf 
Enough !  enough !  I  hear  you  indignantly  ex- 
claim. A  professed  minister  of  Jesus  makes 
the  faith  of  Jesus  of  no  avail ;  and  whether  I 
believe  him  to  be  God  or  a  creature,  a  true 
prophet  or  an  impostor,  I  am  equally  acceptable 
to  Dr.  Maxcy,  and  shall  find  that  all  these  con- 
tradictory sentiments  are  consistent  with  a  cer- 
tain course  to  glory.  I  write  this  believing  your 
sentiments  to  be  mine,  and  that  he  ought  by  no 
means  to  be  chosen.  1  hope  you  will  be  on  the 
ground,  with  your  J.  B.  Johnson." 

Dr.  Maxcy,  however,  was  chosen  president 
of  the  college,  and  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
the  office,  though  he  remained  in  it  only  for  a 
few  years.  In  1805  he  accepted  the  offer  of 
the  presidency  of  the  college  at  Charleston, 
S.  C,  and  continued  at  the  head  of  that  institu- 
tion until  his  decease. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  the  North- 
ern Missionary  Society  was  formed  with  a  view 
to  supply  the  great  spiritual  destitution  of  the 
northern  and  central  parts  of  the  State  of  New- 


60  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

York.  Some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  extent 
of  this  destitution,  and  of  the  demands  made 
upon  the  few  settled  pastors,  from  the  fact  pro- 
ved by  the  early  records  of  the  presbytery  of 
Washington,  that  at  least  one  third  of  the  time 
of  the  ministers  who  composed  it  was  spent  in 
preaching  the  Gospel  to  the  numerous  small  and 
destitute  settlements  in  those  extensive  regions.* 
From  the  commencement  of  his  ministry,  Mr. 
Proudfit  performed  his  full  share  of  these  ardu- 
ous labours.  So  deeply  did  he  become  inter- 
ested in  behalf  of  these  "  settlements,"  that  he 
resolved  to  devote  a  portion  of  each  year  to 
this  work.  Most  of  his  published  works  were 
sent  to  the  press  for  the  purpose  of  circulation 
among  these  scattered  families.  Prompted  by 
an  earnest  desire  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God,  he  was  "  in  journeyings  oft,"  the 
perils  and  painfulness  of  which  the  ministers  of 
the  present  day  can  scarcely  form  a  just  con- 
ception. Of  one  of  these  journeys  we  have  been 
furnished  with  an  account,  by  the  same  friend 

*  "  All  this  region,  west  to  Niagara,  and  northward  to  the  prov- 
inces of  Canada,  was,  at  that  time  (1783),  comparatively  an  un- 
broken wilderness,  physical  and  moral.  On  these  valleys  stood, 
within  my  own  recollection,  the  majestic  elm,  towering  above  the 
other  trees  of  the  forest ;  here,  also,  prowled  the  hungry  panther, 
and  I  remember  distinctly  when  one  of  our  valuable  citizens  was 
protected  from  the  fangs  of  this  terror  of  the  forest  by  the  imme- 
diate interposition  of  a  watchful  Providence."— ifisf.  Saleniy  by  Dr. 
Prmidfit. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  61 

to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  his  recollections  of 
Mr.  Proudfif  s  early  ministry,  some  extracts  from 
which  we  shall  here  insert,  for  the  sake  of  their 
connexion  with  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  and 
also  to  show  the  hardships  of  the  home  mission- 
ary fifty  years  ago. 

"  We  all  remember  the  interest  your  revered 
father*  always  manifested  in  those  members  of 
his  congregation  who  removed  to  the  frontier 
settlements,  and  were  destitute  of  Divine  ordi- 
nances. We  have  often  heard  him  recount  his 
journeyings,  oft  through  woods  and  wildernesses, 
to  visit  them  in  their  humble  dwellings.  It  is  to 
me  a  source  of  some  satisfaction  to  reflect  that, 
in  the  first  tour  of  this  kind,  I  accompanied  him. 
I  then  saw  a  sample  of  those  labours  in  which 
he  was  afterward  so  abundant ;  I  then  felt  some 
of  those  fatigues  which  he  so  long  and  so  pa- 
tiently endured. 

"  Several  families  from  this  town  were  pioneers 
in  the  settlement  of  the  towns  of  Scipio  and  Mil- 
ton, on  the  Cayuga  Lake,  some  of  whom  were 
memberff'of  our  congregation,  and  your  father 
had  not  been  long  in  the  ministry  before  he  de- 
termined to  visit  them.  The  country  to  be  pass- 
ed through  was  new,  much  of  it  unsettled  ;  the 
state  road  had  not  yet  been  commenced.     The 

*  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  addressed  to  Reverend  Profes- 
sor John  Proudfit,  D.D. 

F 


62  MEMOIR    or    THE 

Oneida  Indians  still  occupied  their  lands,  through 
which  it  was  necessary  to  go.  Upon  the  whole, 
the  journey  was  deemed  rather  perilous,  and  our 
fathers  who  then  composed  the  session  had  too 
much  regard  for  their  young  minister  willingly 
to  permit  him  to  undertake  it  altogether  alone. 
They  therefore  proposed  to  me  that,  if  I  would 
accompany  him,  the  session  would  provide 
means  to  defray  my  expenses.  I  readily  ac- 
cepted the  proposal,  and  was  promptly  furnished 
with  money. 

"  After  the  lapse  of  more  than  forty-six  years, 
you  will  not  expect  me  to  recollect  much  of  our 
journey  ;  and  there  is  perhaps  nothing  worthy 
of  recollection  except  as  being  your  father's  first 
missionary  tour.  The  only  incident  I  remem- 
ber of  the  first  day  was  some  difficulty  we  had 
in  turning  out  of  the  road  for  lumbermen  about 
the  river,  as  the  snow  was  deep,  and  they  were 
not  very  accommodating.  At  that  time  there 
was  no  village  at  Saratoga  Springs ;  the  road 
passed  near  the  high  rock,  about  which  were  a 
few  log  houses,  while  around  Congress  Spring 
were  thick  woods ;  a  small  frame  house  had  been 
just  erected  on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  Union 
Hall,  which  was  the  only  building  in  the  place. 
Within  less  than  a  mile  from  the  Congress  Spring 
we  found  trees  fallen  across  the  road,  which  oc- 
casioned us  some  trouble  to  pass.     That  night 


REV.  L»K.   PROUDFIT.  63 

we  reached  the  hospitable  parsonage  of  the  Rev- 
erend James  Mairs,tne  minister  of  Galv^ay,  Sar- 
atoga county.  Tuesday,  5th  of  March,  left  Mr. 
Mairs,  and  dined  at  Johnstown,  and  then  rode 
along  the  bank  of  the  Mohawk  until  night, 
when  we  put  up  at  a  tavern  in  Palatine,  kept  by 
a  Mr.  Weaver.  This  day  was  a  very  hard  one  ; 
I  certainly  never  had  been  so  tired  before,  and 
I  believe  I  never  have  been  since  ;  it  had  snow- 
ed all  day,  but  in  the  afternoon  we  encountered 
a  constant  northwester.  I  do  not  know  how  far 
we  rode,  but  I  presume  it  was  about  fifty  miles. 
Chilled  through,  and  almost  pounded  to  jelly,  I 
could  scarcely  roll  off  my  horse  and  get  into  the 
house  ;  we  then  had  supper  of  tough  beefsteak, 
and  slept  upon  a  bed  of  something  that  I  thought 
a  good  deal  harder  than  rye  straw. 

"  Wednesday,  6th.  We  rode  through  very 
deep  snow  several  miles  before  breakfast ;  we 
crossed  the  Mohawk  at  Utica,  then  a  mere  ham- 
let, containing  a  few  small  houses  ;  from  thence 
to  Whitestown  the  fields  seemed,  from  the  mul- 
titude of  stumps,  to  have  been  newly  cleared. 

"  Tfiursday,  7th.  We  passed  through  the  nine- 
mile  wilderness,  and  came  to  the  Indian  village 
of  Oneida  Castle.  Here  we  found  a  large  tract 
of  level  ground  which  appeared  to  have  been 
under  cultivation  for  many  years,  as  not  a  stump 
was  to  be  seen.     There  were  at  this  place  some 


64  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

hundreds  of  Indian  houses,  all  made  of  the  bark 
of  trees ;  we  stopped  and  went  into  a  house  by 
the  road-side,  but  could  hold  no  conversation 
with  the  inhabitants,  as  they  were  ignorant  of 
our  language,  and  we  of  theirs.  As  we  passed 
along  we  started  many  deer  that  were  browsing 
in  the  woods,  and  met  long  files  of  Indians  on 
their  hunting  expeditions,  armed  with  rifles  and 
long  knives,  and  painted  in  the  most  frightful 
manner.  We  spent  the  night  at  a  very  comfort- 
able tavern  near  Onondaga  Hollow,  kept  by  a 
famil  y  from  Connecticut.  After  we  were  in  bed, 
the  landlord  came  into  the  room  to  ask  your  fa- 
ther if  he  was  not  a  minister,  saying  that  the 
family  had  been  disputing  upon  the  subject,  some 
of  them  declaring  that  he  was  a  Methodist  min- 
ister, others  that  he  was  not ;  when  he  found 
who  your  father  was,  he  said  that  if  he  had 
known  it  they  should  have  had  prayers,  and 
begged  that  we  would  call  at  his  house  on  our 
return. 

"  Friday,  8th.  The  country  through  which 
we  passed  this  day  was  very  thinly  settled  ;  we 
found  large  tracts  of  oak  openings  ;  others  were 
very  thickly  and  heavily  timbered  with  cherry, 
ash,  bass-wood,  and  white-wood  trees  of  im- 
mense size.  About  sunset  we  reached  Cayuga 
Lake  ;  we  then  turned  south  along  the  bank  of 
the  lake,  passing  through  dense  woods,  and  with 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  65 

no  other  road  than  a  mere  track  in  the  snow. 
We  at  length  discovered  a  light,  and,  on  coming 
to  the  house,  found  that  it  belonged  to  Mr.  An- 
drew Simpson,  who  received  us  very  gladly. 
The  next  morning  we  rode  a  few  miles  farther 
to  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Clark,  which  we  made 
our  home. 

"  Sabbath,  10th.  Your  father  preached  in  a 
log  cabin  which  was  used  as  a  school-house  ;  his 
text  was  Acts,  iii.,  26.  After  sermon  he  com- 
plained of  severe  depression  of  spirits,  and  ask- 
ed me  if  I  had  not  observed  it  causing  him  em- 
barrassment while  preaching.  I  told  him  there 
was  nothing  of  the  kind  discernible.  I  do  not 
know  how  often  he  preached,  as  I  was  not  in 
company  with  him  the  whole  time  ;  one  of  the 
places  which  he  visited  alone  was  called  Indian 
Fields. 

"  Sabbath,  17th.  He  preached  and  baptized 
children  at  Samuel  Clark's.  On  Monday  we  set 
out  on  our  return,  and  after  passing  over  very 
much  the  same  ground,  and  by  the  same  stages, 
we  arrived  safely  at  Salem  on  Friday  evening 
the  22d  of  March. 

'•  This  was  my  first  journey  with  your  fathei 
I  have  had  many  since,  none  of  them  so  long, 
but  all  pleasant  and  profitable.  The  last  one 
was  about  a  year  ago,  from  Whitehall ;  the  day 
pleasant ;  we  were  alone  ;  he  was  full  to  over- 
5  F2 


66  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

flowing,  and  most  delightfully  communicative ; 
he  appeared  to  me  like  one  on  the  confines  of 
heaven,  occasionally  looking  in  and  enjoying  a 
glimpse  of  the  glory  to  be  revealed,  and  occa- 
sionally looking  back  upon  the  world,  retracing 
his  journey  through  it,  wondering  at  and  admi- 
ring the  goodness  and  mercy  which  had  follow- 
ed him,  enumerating  particular  instances  of 
God's  kindness,  while,  with  deep  humility  and  all 
the  simplicity  of  a  child,  he  seemed  penetrated 
with  a  sense  of  his  own  shortcomings,  and  the 
remains  of  corruption  with  which  he  was  still 
burdened,  yet  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  a  speedy 
deliverance. 

"'He  longed 
To  have  his  passport  sign'd  and  be  dismissed. 
'Tis  done,  and  now  he's  happy  ;  the  glad  soul 
Has  not  a  wish  uncrown'd.    Even  the  lag  flesh 
Rests,  too,  in  hope  of  meeting  once  again 
Its  better  half.' 

"  May  you  and  I,  and  our  families  and  friends, 
be  followers  of  those  who,  through  faith  and 
patience,  now  inherit  the  promises. 

"  Yours  trulv, 

"  J.  M'M. 

"  Reverend  Professor  Proudfit,  D.D." 

Though  the  special  object  of  this  missionary 

tour  was  to  visit  the  few  families  living  in  the 

wilderness,  which  had  formerly  been  connected 

with  his  own  pastoral  charge,  it  still  brought 


REV.    DR.  PROUDFIT.  67 

him  in  contact  with  the  Indian  population  in 
Central  New- York,  and  was  the  means  of  ex- 
citing his  warm  sympathies  in  behalf  of  that  un- 
happy race.  In  subsequent  years  he  repeated- 
ly visited  the  Indian  settlements.  The  Northern 
Missionary  Society,  very  soon  after  its  founda- 
tion, entered  into  this  field,  and  long  sustained 
the  Gospel  among  several  of  the  tribes  of  New- 
York  Indians.  Among  the  letters  of  Mr.  Proud- 
fit,  there  are  still  remaining  two  addressed  by 
him,  in  the  name  of  the  Society,  to  one  of  these 
settlements,  and  to  the  clergyman  whom  it  was 
proposed  to  send  among  them.  The  letter  to 
the  Indians  is  as  follows : 

"Salem,  11th  Sept.,  1800. 
"Brethren  dearly  Beloved, 
"  Our  hearts  were  greatly  refreshed  with  those 
sentiments  of  affection  and  confidence  which 
were  expressed  in  your  letter  of  October,  1799; 
and  our  joy  was  greatly  increased  to  find  that 
you  so  ardently  desire  a  minister  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  to  reside  constantly  among  you,  and  teach 
you,  your  children,  and  your  wives,  the  truths 
of  his  precious  Gospel.  We  ourselves  esteem 
a  knowledge  of  Christ  infinitely  interesting,  and 
shall  esteem  it  matter  of  everlasting  joy  if  we 
can  be  instrumental,  under  God,  in  spreading 
among  you  the  savour  of  his  precious  name. 
Although  we  live  considerably  distant  from  you, 


68  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  although  we  may  differ  from  you  in  cus- 
toms, colour,  and  language,  yet  we  acknowledge 
you  as  our  dear  brethren  by  nature,  as  created 
by  the  same  Great  Spirit,  as  descended  from  the 
same  original  pair,  and  that  Jesus  whom  we 
love,  in  whose  blood  we  expect  salvation,  is  the 
Saviour  of  all  men,  is  the  desire  of  all  nations, 
is  offered  freely  to  people  of  every  colour,  of 
every  country,  of  every  language  who  will  re- 
ceive him.  These  considerations  both  urge  and 
encourage  us  to  make  every  possible  exertion  to 
diffuse  among  your  nation  the  knowledge  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  are  forgiveness 
of  sins,  peace  with  the  Great  Spirit,  the  adop- 
tion of  sons,  comfort  in  death,  and  everlasting 
blessedness  to  all  who  believe. 

Farther,  as  you  have  desired  particularly  our 
reverend  brother,  Mr.  Crosby,  we  have  attempt- 
ed, and  still  are  attempting  to  obtain  him  as  your 
minister ;  and,  should  the  Great  Spirit  dispose  him 
to  settle  among  you,  we  earnestly  pray  that  he 
may  enter  your  abodes  in  the  fulness  of  the  bless- 
ing of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  that  he  may  be 
long  spared  as  a  blessing  to  your  nation,  and 
that,  through  his  abundant  labours,  you,  your 
wives  and  children,  may  become  wise  unto  sal- 
vation. As  we  have  formerly  written,  we  again 
declare  ourselves  to  be  your  true  friends,  that 
we  desire  not  vour  houses  or  lands,  that  our 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  69 

highest  object  in  sending  you  teachers  and  min- 
isters is  to  make  you  happy  in  life,  in  death,  and 
through  eternity.  By  order  of  the  Board  of 
Northern  Miss.  See. 

"  A.  Proudfit,  vS^ec'y.'* 

The  second  letter  of  the  same  date  is  ad- 
dressed to  Rev.  Mr.  Sargeant,  the  well-known 
missionary  to  the  Stockbridge  Indians,  and  ap- 
pears to  have  been  written  with  a  view  to  ob- 
tain the  person  named  in  the  letter  to  the  Onei- 
das,  as  a  stated  pastor  to  that  nation. 

Besides  the  letters  relative  to  the  Oneida  In- 
dian mission,  there  is  quite  a  collection  of  oth- 
ers, which  attest  the  ardour  of  his  Christian  zeal 
and  love.  Many  of  them  were  private,  others 
were  written  to  the  vacancies  under  the  care 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Washington ;  they  breathe 
a  most  affectionate  spirit,  expressing  the  writer's 
deep  sympathy  with  them  in  their  destitute  con- 
dition, and  testify  his  readiness  to  supply  their 
spiritual  needs  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  urging  them,  with  much  solemni- 
ty, never  to  cease  their  own  exertions  until  their 
eyes  were  permitted  to  "  behold  their  teachers." 
Among  all  these  letters,  there  is  not  one  written, 
as  too  many  presbyterial  letters  are,  in  a  dry, 
curt,  business-like  form.  Their  general  charac- 
ter may  be  gathered  from  the  following  speci- 
men.    It  is  dated 


70  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

"Salem,  14th  April,  1799. 

"To  the  vacant  Congregation  in  L . 

"  Beloved  Brethren, 
"  Your  letter,  handed  me  this  morning,  enclo- 
sing the  petition  for  supplies,  excited  emotions 
of  sorrow  and  joy ;  of  sorrow,  when  I  hear  of 
your  desolate  condition  in  a  spiritual  sense,  being 
destitute,  in  a  great  measure,  of  both  the  stated 
and  occasional  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  This 
want,  although  little  felt,  or  rarely  lamented  by 
the  world  in  general,  yet  to  those  who  have  ex- 
perienced the  power  of  religion  it  must  be  the 
subject  of  deep  concern.  How  fervently  did 
the  soul  of  the  Psalmist  aspire  after  the  sanctu-, 
ary  of  Divine  grace.  *  One  thing,'  he  ardently 
exclaims,  '  have  I  desired  of  the  Lord  ;'  amid 
all  my  other  pursuits,  this  claims  my  principal, 
prominent  attention ;  *  that  I  may  dwell  in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  all  the  days  of  my  life,  to 
behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  inquire 
in  his  temple ;  for  a  day  in  thy  courts  is  bet- 
ter than  a  thousand.  I  had  rather  be  a  door- 
keeper in  the  house  of  my  God  than  to  dwell 
in  the  tents  of  wickedness. 

"  The  preaching  of  the  Gospel  has  been  in 
all  ages  a  special  means  of  extending  and  es- 
tablishing the  kingdom  of  the  dear  Redeemer. 
This,  the  Holy  Ghost  has  honoured,  perhaps, 
above  every  other  ordinance  for  enlightening, 


REV.  DR.   PROUD  FIT.  71 

alarming,  encouraging,  supporting,  and  perfect- 
ing all  who  are  the  subjects  of  his  gracious  in- 
fluence, and  who  shall  hereafter  be  made  heirs  of 
everlasting  salvation.  Yet,  brethren,  it  may 
seem  as  a  consolation  to  you,  and  to  me  on  your 
account,  that  Israel's  God  is  not  confined  to  or- 
dinances. He  has,  indeed,  chosen  Zion  eminent- 
ly for  his  habitation.  He  delights  in  her  *  gates 
more  than  all  the  dwellings  of  Jacob,'  yet  he 
is  not  limited  to  her  palaces.  Easily  he  can, 
and  frequently  he  does,  convert  the  wilderness 
places,  where  the  river  of  life  never  flows 
through  the  medium  of  the  sanctuary,  '  into  a 
pool  of  water,  and  the  dry  land  into  water 
springs,  to  give  drink  to  his  people,  his  chosen.' 
Thus  Bethel  was  to  Jacob ;  the  Cave  of  Enge- 
di  to  David,  a  prison  to  Peter,  a  tribunal  to  Paul, 
a  desert  island  to  John,  places  of  the  most  ami- 
able, intimate,  and  refreshing  communion  with 
their  covenant  God.  He  is  ever  near  to  them 
that  call  upon  him.  He  is  all-wise  to  discover 
our  necessities,  he  is  all  gracious  to  compassion- 
ate, and  all  sufficient  to  supply  them. 

"  While  I  sympathize  with  you  in  your  desolate 
condition,  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  that 
joy  which  I  experienced  in  learning  from  your 
petition  that  a  thirst  for  ordinances  is  still  felt 
among  you.  This  condition  is  a  pleasing,  pre- 
cious pledge  that  Jehovah  entertains  designs  of 


72  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

visiting  you.  These  desires  are  created  by 
himself,  and  they  are  created  only  to  be  gra- 
ciously answered.  '  He  will  satiate  the  long- 
ing soul,  and  fill  the  hungry  soul  with  good 
things.'  Be  not  discouraged,  dearly  beloved, 
by  any  disappointments  you  have  formerly  ex- 
perienced, nor  by  present  appearances,  however 
gloomy,  nor  from  future  prospects,  which  may 
possibly  be  unpromising.  In  evening  time  light 
frequently  arises  upon  Zion  ;  the  darkest  hour 
has  often  preceded  immediately  the  brightest 
shining  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  on  individ- 
uals, on  congregations,  and  on  nations.  Fre- 
quently has  a  Sovereign  God  rendered  attempts 
apparently  feeble,  and  at  seasons  the  most  un- 
favourable, effectual  for  producing  astonishing 
effects.  Thereby  he  disappoints  the  fears,  and 
answers  the  prayers  of  his  people.  '  Be  ye 
therefore  steadfast,  unmoveable,  always  abound- 
ing in  the  work  of  the  Lord.'  Are  you  desti- 
tute of  the  public  ordinances  which  Jehovah 
has  appointed  for  meeting  and  conversing  with 
his  people,  be  the  more  diligent  in  the  private 
institutions  of  searching  the  Scriptures,  of  secret 
prayer,  family  prayer,  of  instructing,  encoura- 
ging, exhorting  your  children  in  the  great  con- 
cerns of  their  souls.  Althouo^h  the  fulness  of 
the  covenant  be  not  brought  nigh  to  you  in  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  it  is  presented  in  the 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  73 

precious  promises,  it  is  offered  in  the  present 
address. 

"  I  now  conclude,  exhorting  all  those  whom  this 
letter  may  concern,  by  everything  valuable  in 
their  souls,  by  all  that  is  solemn  in  death,  by  all 
that  is  joyful  in  heaven,  by  all  that  is  horrible  in 
hell,  immediately  to  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  the 
ordinance  of  God  for  their  salvation.  Children 
of  wrath  you  and  I  are  by  nature,  and  such  we 
must  forever  remain  without  a  real,  vital  union 
to  the  Son  of  God.  How  shall  we  escape  if  we 
neglect  this  great  salvation  ?  Put  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  make  no  provision  for  the  flesh. 
His  righteousness,  his  infinitely  meritorious  righ- 
teousness is  absolutely,  divinely  free  ;  it  is  offered 
in  the  Gospel  to  the  chiefest  of  sinners.  That  you 
may  all  be  clothed  with  this  immaculate  robe, 
this  '  linen  clean  and  white,'  and,  through  sanc- 
tifying influences  of  the  Spirit,  be  presented  at 
last  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  is  the  prayer  of 
your  devoted  servant  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

"  A.  Proudfit." 

Such  were  the  instructive,  encouraging,  and 
truly  apostolical  communications  which  the  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir  was  accustomed  to  send  to 
those  churches  in  the  wilderness  which  were 
destitute  of  the  stated  ministration  of  word  and 
ordinances.  He  thus  aimed  to  supply  the  lack 
G 


74  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

of  a  personal  visit,  and  in  some  instances  we 
have  reason  to  believe  that  these  epistolary  la- 
bours were  the  means  of  producing  blessed  re- 
sults. Greatly  changed  as  is  the  condition  of 
the  American  Church  in  all  her  branches  since 
the  above  letter  was  penned,  there  are  still  in  all 
denominations  numerous  feeble  congregations  in 
just  such  circumstances  as  those  of  the  congre- 
gation at  L ;  and  there  surely  can  be  no 

doubt  as  to  the  happy  influence  that  might  be 
expected  to  be  produced  upon  them  by  the  oc- 
casional receipt  of  a  letter  expressive  of  the 
sympathy,  and  filled  with  the  exhortations  and 
encouragements  by  which  the  letter  to  the  peo- 
ple of  L is  characterized. 

Of  the  private  letters,  the  largest  portion  were 
addressed  to  persons  removing  from  the  bounds 
of  his  own  or  other  congregations,  and  to  those 
on  whom  God's  afflicting  hand  had  been  laid. 
This  method  of  counselling,  exhorting,  and  com- 
forting those  who  were  beyond  the  limits  of  his 
ordinary  pastoral  care  he  appears  to  have  used 
with  singular  diligence  from  the  very  outset  of 
his  ministry.  Many  delightful  and  most  edify- 
ing epistles  might  be  given.  We  cannot  forbear 
the  insertion  of  two  of  these  early  letters.  The 
first  is  addressed  to  the  father  of  one  of  those 
solitary  families  which  were  so  much  in  Mr. 
Proudfit's  heart.     It  is  dated  in  1796. 


rev.  dr.  proudfit.  75 

"  My  dear  Friend, 
"  Since,  in  the  providence  of  God,  we  had  our 
last  interview,  I  have  felt  no  little  anxiety  about 
your  spiritual  condition.  I  scarcely  reflect  upon 
you  and  your  family  but  that  awful  passage  re- 
curs to  my  mind,  '  where  no  vision  is,  the  peo- 
ple perish.'  '  How  shall  they  believe  in  him  of 
whom  they  have  not  heard,  and  how  shall  they 
hear  without  a  preacher  V  These  passages  do 
not  imply  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  being 
saved  where  we  do  not  enjoy  the  preaching  of 
the  Word,  but  they  show  that  the  Gospel  preach- 
ed is  a  principal  means  of  our  conversion  and 
salvation.  The  ministry  was  instituted  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  edifying  of  the 
body  of  Christ.  One  circumstance  you  men- 
tioned tended  greatly  to  increase  my  anxiety  for 
you  ;  that  is,  your  having  a  numerous  family  of 
children.  Each  of  these  I  consider  as  a  most 
weighty  charge  ;  their  souls  are  of  more  value 
than  the  whole  world,  because  they  must  live 
forever,  either  in  perfect  blessedness  or  unutter- 
able torment.  The  wicked,  the  ungodly,  Christ- 
less  sinner  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment, but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal. 
These  solemn  considerations  induced  me  to  en- 
close for  your  use  a  number  of  religious  tracts, 
some  for  yourself,  and  others  for  your  children. 
They  are  given  from  the  purest  regard  for  your 


76 


MEMOIR    OF    THE 


immortal  welfare,  and  my  fervent  prayer  to  God 
is,  that  the  reading  of  them  may  redound  to  his 
glory  and  yo«r  joy  in  time  and  through  eterni- 
ty ;  but  always,  in  reading  them,  and  in  begin- 
ning to  instruct  your  offspring,  earnestly  implore 
the  presence  and  blessing  of  your  Lord,  the 
Spirit.  Without  his  enlightening  and  quicken- 
ing influences  to  apply  them,  we  never  can  read 
the  Scriptures,  or  any  other  book,  to  our  spirit- 
ual advantage.  Where  the  Gospel  comes,  not 
in  word  only,  but  in  power,  and  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  it  will  then  be  effectual  to  our  conviction 
and  eternal  salvation.  There  are  many  precious 
promises  encouraging  us  to  ask  the  aid  of  the 
gracious  Spirit,  some  of  which  I  shall  mention, 
that  you  may  read  and  meditate  upon  at  your 
leisure.  Isaiah,  Iv.,  10,  11 ;  lix.,  20,  21.  Jeremi- 
ah, xxxi.,  33,  36.  Ezekiel,  xxxvi.,  25-27.  Deu- 
teronomy, XXX.,  6.  Luke,  xi.,  9-1 3.  Acts,  ii.,  38, 
39.  Some  I  have  quoted  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  others  from  the  New  ;  they  both  are 
the  truth  of  the  living  God,  and  are  profitable  for 
reproof,  correction,  and  instruction  in  righteous- 
ness. Now,  my  dear  friend,  I  recommend  you 
and  your  family  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  his 
grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  give 
you  an  inheritance  among  them  that  are  sancti- 
fied. Pray  frequently  with  your  children  ;  pray 
for  them,  and  let  the  salvation  of  their  precious 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  77 

souls  be  the  object  of  your  first  concern.  Now, 
that  Israel's  God  may  bless  you  abundantly,  and 
your  children ;  that  he  may  clothe  you  with  the 
righteousness  of  his  Son ;  sanctify  you  with  the 
grace  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  at  last  give  you 
an  abundant  entrance  into  his  kingdom  of  glory, 
is  the  prayer  of  your  servant  in  the  Gospel  of 
Christ,  A.  P." 

The  second  letter  is  addressed  to  a  female 
friend,  who  had  been  called  to  drink  of  the  cup 
of  affliction.     It  is  dated 

"  Salem,  6th  of  September,  1799. 
"  Madam, 

"  With  this  letter  I  send,  for  your  perusal, 
some  tracts  of  the*eminently  pious  Mr.  Flavel. 
I  have  pointed  out,  as  peculiarly  adapted  to  your 
condition,  the  one  entitled  '  The  Balm  of  the 
Covenant.'  It  is  a  most  precious  treasure,  and 
unfolds  with  more  than  ordinary  wisdom  the  ful- 
ness of  the  everlasting  covenant.  With  great 
propriety  is  it  called  '  balm,'  being  fitted  in  eve- 
ry respect  to  heal  the  spiritually  wounded,  by 
exhibiting  blood  divine  for  the  remission  of  guilt ; 
infinite  righteousness,  to  cover  spiritual  naked- 
ness ;  almighty  strength,  to  support  the  feeble  ; 
and  everlasting  consolation,  to  raise  up  the  faint- 
ing spirit.  There  is  one  character  in  which  it 
reveals  Almighty  God  pre-eminently  suited  to 
G2 


78  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

your  situation.  We  can  hardly  avoid  supposing 
that  the  author,  in  mentioning  it,  was  intended 
by  the  Spirit  of  grace  to  become  the  instrument 
of  comfort  to  you.  A  husband  to  the  widow  is 
the  character  of  Jehovah  to  which  I  allude,  as 
very  comforting  to  you  in  your  present  state. 
Is  not  your  recent  temporal  loss  amply  compen- 
sated when  thy  Maker  becomes  thy  husband, 
whose  name  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  the  God  of 
all  the  earth  ?  Will  you  excuse  me  while  I  in- 
terrupt your  enjoyment  of  the  precious  Flavel 
by  making  a  few  observations  on  this  endearing 
title  ?  Surely  a  short  reflection  upon  it  cannot 
fail  to  cheer  the  gloom  of  solitude,  to  soothe  the 
bosom  of  despondency,  and  dry  up  the  tears  of 
the  weeping  widow.  Was  she  naturally  led  to 
look  to  her  husband  for  protection  in  the  hour 
of  danger  ?  The  Eternal  God  has  promised  to 
be  her  refuge,  and  to  keep  beneath  her  his  ever- 
lasting arms.  Was  her  husband  the  immediate 
resource  for  provision  in  the  time  of  necessity  ? 
Creation  is  the  Lord's ;  he  is  able  and  willing  to 
supply  the  wants  of  all  who  apply  to  him.  Did 
she  make  her  husband  the  repository  of  her  sor- 
rows ?  Lo  !  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so 
the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him  :  his  ears 
are  ever  open  to  their  cries.  Was  the  society 
of  her  husband  her  greatest  earthly  delight  ? 
This  want  is  a  thousand  fold  more  than  made 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  79 

up  by  the  fellowship  of  the  Father  and  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  Revolving  in  the  mind  those  ten- 
der invitations, '  come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labour 
and  are  heavy  laden,'  '  be  careful  for  nothing, 
but  in  everything  let  your  requests  be  made 
known  unto  God,'  even  the  solitary  widow  may 
exult  with  the  poet, 

"  '  'Tis  naught  to  me ; 

Since  God  is  ever  present,  ever  felt, 
In  the  void  waste,  as  in  the  city  full, 
And  where  he  vital  breathes  there  must  be  joy ;' 

or,  in  the  more  elevated  strains  of  the  inspired 
bard,  '  the  Lord  is  my  light  and  my  salvation, 
whom  shall  I  fear  V  '  When  my  father  and 
mother,  or  husband,  forsake  me,  then  the  Lord 
will  take  me  up. 

*'  Without  intruding  longer  on  your  patience, 
suffice  it  to  remark,  that  these  excellences  re- 
side in  an  earthly  husband  only  in  a  finite  de- 
gree, but  in  Jehovah  they  dwell  in  infinite  per- 
fection. An  earthly  companion  may  contribute 
a  temporary  support,  but  the  riches  of  Jesus  are 
unsearchable  ;  the  inheritance  which  he  bestows 
is  unfading.  An  earthly  companion,  by  tender 
sympathy,  may  soothe  for  a  moment,  but  the 
consolations  which  the  Divine  Redeemer  gives 
are  everlasting.  The  union  which  subsists  be- 
tween Christ  and  believers  shall  never  be  dis- 
solved ;  they  are  betrothed  to  him  forever,  and 


80  MEMOIR  OF    THE 

the  communion  they  are  privileged  to  enjoy  with 
him  aflbrds  a  happiness,  noble  as  the  nature  of 
the  immortal  spirit,  large  as  its  desires,  and  last- 
ing as  its  duration.  That  these  truths,  which 
are  founded  upon  the  Word  of  God,  and  (glory 
to  his  name  !)  have  been  felt  by  his  people,  may 
be  realized  in  your  experience,  and  that  the  af- 
fliction you  have  been  called  to  endure  may 
work  out  for  you  an  exceeding  weight  of  glory, 
is  the  prayer  of  your  affectionate 

"  A.  P." 

Mr.  Proudfit  was  married  on  the  2d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1796,  to  Miss  Susan  Williams,  daughter  of 
General  John  Williams,*  of  Salem.     It  was  the 

*  General  Williams  was  a  large  landholder  in  the  county  of 
Washington,  and  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  town  of 
Salem.  His  character  well  deserves  an  extended  notice,  and  pre- 
sents a  fine  model  for  the  imitation  especially  of  persons  holding 
a  similar  position  in  society.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  his  in- 
fluence greatly  helped  to  give  that  county  the  elevated  rank  m  a 
moral  point  of  view  which  it  has  so  long  held.  How  high  he  stood 
in  the  esteem  of  the  people  of  that  district,  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  he  was  their  representative  in  Congress  during  the 
long  period  of  twenty-four  years.  The  journals  of  that  day  often 
notice  him  as  an  effective  speaker  on  the  floor  of  Congress ;  while 
those  who  personally  knew  him  have  always  delighted  to  speak  of 
his  ample  hospitality,  his  affable  manners,  and  his  remarkable  pow- 
ers of  conversation ;  but  his  history,  in  connexion  with  his  own 
county,  is  the  most  interesting,  as  it  shows  what  may  be  done  by 
a  man  of  wealth,  of  enlarged  views  and  liberal  spirit,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  cause  of  education  and  religion.  The  first  acad- 
emy of  Salem  was  erected  entirely  at  his  expense,  and  he  assisted 
liberally  in  the  erection  of  the  Presbyterian  Churches  at  White- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  81 

privilege  of  Mrs.  Proudfit  to  have  enjoyed  the  in- 
structions of  that  eminently  godly  vv^oman,  Mrs. 
Isabella  Graham,  of  Nevv^-York,  in  whose  school 
she  partly  received  her  education.  In  all  the 
various  labours  of  her  husband  she  took  a  live- 
ly interest,  and  rendered  him  most  efficient  help. 
Delicacy,  hov^^ever,  forbids  our  entering  into  de- 
tails. Yet  we  may  say  that  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult, if  not  impossible,  to  find  a  more  beautiful 
illustration  of  all  that  a  minister's  household 
should  be,  than  that  which  was  afforded  in  the 
former  parsonage  of  Salem. 

hall  and  Hebron.  His  character  is  thus  finely  drawn  by  his  son- 
in-law,  in  the  epitaph  inscribed  upon  his  monument :  "  In  him 
were  united  the  tender  husband,  the  affectionate  parent,  the  agree- 
able companion,  the  useful  citizen,  the  enlightened  and  true  Chris- 
tian. Endeared  to  his  relatives  by  the  qualities  of  his  heart  and 
the  tenderness  of  his  deportment,  in  life  he  enjoyed  their  respect, 
and  his  memory  is  cherished  with  affection." 
6 


Wa  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY    RESOLUTIONS. 

The  year  1800  is  marked  by  the  adoption  of 
a  series  of  resolutions  by  Mr.  Proudfit  for  the 
regulation  of  his  conduct  as  a  Christian  and  as 
a  minister  of  the  gospel.  These  resolutions  are 
worthy  of  notice,  both  for  their  own  intrinsic 
excellence,  and  for  the  light  they  throw  upon 
his  subsequent  life  ;  the  whole  paper,  as  drawn 
up  by  himself,  is  as  follows  : 

RESOLUTIONS. 

This  7th  day  of  March,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1800, 1,  Alexander  Proudfit,  adopt  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  for  regulating  my  conduct, 
which  I  w^ould  humbly  attempt  to  perform, 
through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  strengthening  me : 

1.  To  live  more  entirely  for  God  and  to  him, 
under  an  impression  that  I  am  not  my  own  ;  to 
make  his  glory  in  the  salvation  of  men  the  great 
and  reigning  object  of  my  life,  to  which  I  am 
bound  by  creation,  by  preservation,  by  redemp- 
tion, and,  more  especially,  by  voluntarily  assu- 
ming the  ministerial  office. 

2.  That  I  will  begin  each  day  with  prayer  to 
God  for  his  blessing  during  that  day,  that  he 


REV.  DR.    PROUDFIT.  83 

would  direct  in  every  step  which  I  am  called  to 
take,  that  he  would  prosper  me  in  my  studies, 
and  enable  me  to  spend  my  time,  my  talents,  my 
worldly  property  in  the  manner  most  adapted  to 
promote  the  foregoing  resolution. 

3.  That  I  will  aim  particularly  at  crucifying 
my  spiritual  pride,  as  that  accursed  lust  which  im- 
mediately arrogates  to  myself  that  glory  which 
is  due  to  the  living  God,  and  as  the  sin  which 
more  easily  besets  me.  For  this  end,  O  my  soul  ! 
consider  that  whatever  thou  hast,  and  of  which 
thou  art  tempted  to  boast,  whether  of  body  or 
mind,  or  outward  circumstances,  or  favour  in 
the  opinion  of  men,  are  freely  given  thee  of  God, 
and  are  talents  for  which  thou  must  render  an 
account  when  he  comes  to  be  glorified  in  his 
saints.  Reflect  frequently  on  the  following  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  :  1  Cor.,  iv.,  7  ;  Matt.,  xxv., 
14-30. 

4.  That  I  will  endeavour  each  day  to  read 
some  portions  of  the  Word  of  God,  not  merely 
as  a  critic,  that  I  may  be  capable  of  defending 
them,  nor  merely  as  a  minister,  that  I  may  be 
better  qualified  for  instructing  others,  but  as  a 
sinner,  who  am  myself  infinitely  interested  in 
these  doctrines,  and  that,  as  a  new-born  babe,  I 
may  thereby  be  growing  up  to  the  stature  of  a 
perfect  man  in  Christ  Jesus. 

5.  That  each  evening,  not  knowing  but  my 


84  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

soul  may  be  required  before  morning,  I  will  call 
myself  to  an  impartial  account  for  my  conduct 
during  the  day,  inquiring  what  duties  have  been 
omitted  which  might  and  ought  to  have  been 
discharged,  and  what  levities  have  been  indulged 
which  might  and  ought  to  have  been  avoided. 

6.  That,  as  this  life  is  the  only  period  of  my 
existence  in  which  I  can  be  instrumental  in  the 
salvation  of  others,  I  will  aim,  not  only  from  a 
principle  of  fidelity  to  my  Master,  but  of  com- 
passion to  perishing  sinners,  to  do  all  in  my  pow- 
er for  bringing  them  to  Christ. 

7.  That  I  will  endeavour  to  forgive  all  men, 
even  those  who  are  most  malignantly  opposed 
to  me,  and  not  render  railing  for  railing,  thus 
imitating  the  example  and  following  the  injunc- 
tion of  my  Lord,  Matt.,  v.,  40-48. 

8.  That  I  will  avoid  as  much  as  possible  en- 
tertaining unkind  and  ungenerous  thoughts  of 
others,  lest  thereby  their  real  intentions  be  mis- 
construed. 

9.  That  I  will  pursue  the  utmost  economy  in 
my  dress,  my  diet,  my  family  and  travelling  ex- 
penses, that  I  may  be  enabled  to  spare  the  more 
for  promoting  the  temporal,  and  especially  the 
spiritual  interests  of  others. 

10.  That  I  will  aim  at  recovering  and  main- 
taining that  spirituality  of  frame,  that  fervour  of 
devotion,  that  ardour  of  love  to  the  Lord  Jesus, 


REV.  DR.  TROUDFIT.  85 

that  concern  for  his  glory  and  for  the  souls  of 
men,  which  I  have  often  felt  in  a  powerful  de- 
gree, and  by  which  I  was  first  constrained  to 
enter  the  sacred  ministry. 

1 1 .  That  I  will  endeavour  to  remember,  in  my 
spiritual  exercises  of  meditation  and  prayer, 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  whatever  may  be  their 
communion,  or  wherever  their  residence  may 
be,  because  I  know  by  experience  that  their 
work  is  an  arduous  one,  their  discouragements 
many,  and  in  their  fidelity,  the  honour  of  Jesus, 
the  success  of  the  gospel,  and  the  eternal  wel- 
fare of  souls  are  deeply  involved. 

12.  That  hereafter  I  will  aim  at  viewing  re- 
ligion as  properly  the  business  of  my  life  ;  that 
in  the  morning  I  will  resign  myself  wholly  to 
the  Lord's  disposal  through  the  day,  and  depend 
on  him  for  direction  how  to  spend  it  most  an- 
^werably  to  the  end  of  my  creation,  redemp- 
tion, and  ministerial  calling. 

13.  That,  under  a  conviction  of  my  infinite 
insufficiency  for  the  least  service,  under  the  bit- 
ter experience  that  my  heart  is  deceitful  above 
all  things,  I  will  surrender  it  entirely  to  the 
Lord's  keeping — Ps.  xvi.,  1  ;  cxxi.,  1-6 — and 
esteem  as  more  precious  than  a  thousand  worlds 
the  following  promises  which  secure  my  perse- 
verance :  Rom.,  v.,  9,  10  ;  viii.,  29,  30.  Phil., 
i.,  6.     Jude  24,  25. 

H 


86  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

14.  That,  after  my  return  from  preaching,  es- 
pecially if  some  ease  or  enlargement  has  been 
experienced,  I  will  watch  against  pride  and  self- 
sufficiency.     2  Cor.,  iii.,  5. 

15.  That  I  will   endeavour  to   avoid  being 
much  elated  by  prosperity  or  depressed  by  ad-    J 
versity,  reflecting  that  I  am  a  stranger  and  a 
sojourner  upon  earth,  that  this  world  is  not  my 
home,  and  be  looking  out  for  that  house  which 

is  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

16.  That,  as  my  natural  constitution  is  feeble, 
I  will  endeavour  to  be  frugal  of  my  strength, 
and  spend  it  to  the  best  advantage. 

17.  That  I  will  always  aim  at  devising  new 
plans  for  promoting  the  kingdom  of  my  Lord 
and  Saviour,  which  is  the  great  work  to  which 
I  was  set  apart  upon  entering  the  ministry. 

18.  That  I  will  avoid  unnecessarily  postpo- 
ning the  discharge  of  any  duty,  remembering, 
that  life  is  uncertain,  and  that  sufficient  for  each 
day,  and  week,  and  month  will  be  the  work 
thereof.     2  Cor.,  vi.,  2. 

19.  That  I  will  endeavour  to  wait  patiently 
upon  an  absent  God ;  that,  though  he  may  seem- 
ingly shut  out  my  prayer  by  not  giving  an  im- 
mediate answer,  I  will  aim  at  exercising  resig- 
nation to  his  will,  and  trust  that  the  best  bless- 
ings will  be  communicated  in  the  best  time. 
Hab.,  iii.,  17.     Luke,  xviii.,  17. 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  87 

20.  Resolved  not  to  rejoice  or  glory  in  any 
external  advantages,  as  I  must  thereby  have 
them  removed  or  imbittered  in  their  enjoyment ; 
neither  to  set  my  affections  greatly  on  anything 
temporal,  as  all  beneath  God  himself  is  both  un- 
certain and  unsatisfying,  but  to  aim  at  v^^alking 
by  faith  on  things  unseen.  1  Kings,  viii.,  19. 
Matt.,  vi.,  24.     2  Cor.,  iv.,  10. 

21.  Resolved  to  depend  less  on  books  of  hu- 
man composition,  and  to  become  more  diligent 
in  searching  the  Holy  Scriptures,  with  a  reli- 
ance on  the  Spirit  of  Wisdom  for  teaching  me 
their  real  import.  Ps.  xxv.,  14.  Isa.,  xlviii.,  17. 
James,  i.,  5. 

22.  Resolved  that,  as  I  knov^r  from  the  Word 
of  God  and  from  observation  that  all  instruction, 
private  or  public,  must  be  unavailing  w^ithout 
Almighty  power  accompanying,  I  will  ask  di- 
rection of  the  Lord  in  the  choice  of  my  subjects, 
in  the  manner  of  discussing  them,  and  for  his 
blessing  to  render  them  effectual.  John,  xxi.,  6. 
Mark,  i.,  17.     John,  vi.,  45. 

23.  Resolved  that,  as  my  mind  is  disposed  to 
wander  in  the  night  no  less  than  by  day,  and 
dreams,  vain  and  unprofitable,  do  often  disturb, 
I  will  commit  the  keeping  of  my  soul  to  Israel's 
Shepherd,  whether  asleep  or  awake.  Ps.  cxxi., 
3-8.     Phil.,iv.,  6-7. 

24.  Resolved  that,  as  I  am  informed  by  Scrip- 


88  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ture,  and  have  often  experienced  to  my  sorrow 
and  self-loathing,  that  the  heart  is  deceitful  above 
all  things,  and  as  it  has  betrayed  me  to  the  loss 
of  my  spiritual  comfort  and  confidence  with  God, 
I  will  aim  at  keeping  it  with  all  diligence  in  ev- 
ery circumstance,  whether  of  health  or  affliction, 
and  upon  all  occasions,  whether  alone  or  in  com- 
pany. 

25.  Resolved  to  avoid  speaking  evil  of  oth- 
ers, or  making  remarks  upon  their  character  or 
conduct,  unless  I  thereby  design,  as  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God,  to  warn  my  own  soul,  or  those 
with  whom  I  converse. 

26.  Resolved  frequently  to  read  the  Four  Gos- 
pels, that  I  may  thereby  bear  in  mind  the  great 
God,  my  Saviour,  and  learn  to  imitate  his  ex- 
ample in  submission  to  the  will  of  his  Father,  and 
diligence  in  fulfilling  the  work  for  which  he  was 
set  apart,  considering  it  his  meat  and  drink  to  do 
the  will  of  Him  that  sent  him ;  also  to  imitate  his 
charity  towards  others  in  distress,  and  his  meek- 
ness and  forbearance  towards  his  opposers. 

27.  January  1st,  1801.  Resolved  that,  as  an- 
other period  of  my  life  is  gone,  and  I  am  advan- 
ced another  pace  nearer  the  end  of  my  course, 
I  will  endeavour  to  live  nearer  to  God,  and  more 
entirely  for  him. 

28.  Resolved  to  become  more  crucified  to  this 
present  evil  world,  to  its  profits,  and  honours, 


REV.  DR.   PKOUDFIT.  89 

and  delights.  For  this  end,  contemplate,  O  !  my 
soul,  the  example  of  thy  Saviom' — his  outward 
appearance  upon  earth.  Behold  him  in  his  birth, 
Luke,  ii.,  7.  Phil.,  ii.,  7.  As  another  means  of 
crucifying  me  to  the  world,  read  the  following 
passages  :  Matt.,  xvi.,  26.  Luke,  xii.,31.  Col., 
iii.,  1-3. 

29.  Resolved  to  improve  every  opportunity 
of  doing  good  to  the  souls  of  men,  whether  at 
home  or  on  the  road,  when  I  occasionally  meet 
with  them,  or  on  a  journey  when  I  call  at  public 
houses. 

30.  Resolved  that,  as  I  need  line  upon  hne, 
and  require  so  many  remembrancers  of  my  duty 
to  God,  to  his  Church,  and  to  myself,  that  I  will 
frequently  read  over  my  first  and  eleventh  res- 
olutions. 

These  resolutions  will  be  read  with  more  than 
ordinary  interest  by  those  who  were  intimately 
acquainted  with  their  author  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  ministry.  They  show  that,  from  its 
earliest  years,  those  excellences  for  which  he 
was  distinguished  were  distinctly  proposed  by 
him  as  objects  of  attainment ;  and  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a 
case  in  which  the  early  resolutions  of  a  minister 
w^ere  more  faithfully  observed  than  in  that  of  Dr. 
Proudfit.  It  is  a  serious  thing  to  enter  into  a 
H 


90  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

covenant  with  God  (as  this  transaction  may  fitly 
be  called),  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  sol- 
emn adoption  of  these  rules  exerted  a  powerful 
influence  on  Mr.  Proudfit  through  his  whole  sub- 
sequent career,  and  was,  under  God,  an  impor- 
tant means  of  making  him,  what  he  became,  "  a 
burning  and  shining  light."  He  often  perused 
them,  as  we  shall  afterward  see,  in  the  seasons 
of  meditation  and  prayer.  -  • 

These  resolutions  show  that  he  was  distin- 
guished by,  substantially,  the  same  traits  of 
character  in  the  first  as  in  the  latter  years  of 
his  ministry ;  and  among  those  which  deserve 
special  notice  were  the  spirit  of  devotion  ;  this 
he  resolved  to  cultivate  ;  and  it  might  eminently 
be  said  of  him,  that  "  he  gave  himself  to  pray- 
er." It  was  the  same  with  him,  whether  at  home 
or  abroad,  in  private  or  in  company.  Besides 
his  stated  seasons  of  personal  and  family  devo- 
tion, he  was  accustomed,  as  his  diary  attests,  to 
set  apart  frequently  the  whole,  or  a  part  of  a 
day,  to  the  exercises  of  prayer  and  fasting,  fix- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  upon  some  specific  topics 
of  meditation  and  supplication.  That  precious 
promise  of  our  Redeemer — "  if  any  two  of  you 
shall  agree  on  earth,  as  touching  anything  that 
they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my 
Father  w^ho  is  in  heaven"  (Matt.,  xviii.,  19) — 
was  one  whose  value  and  importance  he  seem- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  91 

ed  deeply  to  feel ;  thus,  when  in  conversation 
with  a  friend  or  in  the  family  circle,  in  his  own 
house  or  elsewhere,  he  would  seize  the  first  op- 
portunity that  occurred  to  propose  spending  a 
few  moments  in  prayer,  repeating,  at  the  same 
time,  the  words  before  quoted,  and  suggesting 
some  particular  subjects  of  supplication  relating 
either  to  individuals  present,  to  some  one  of  the 
great  objects  of  Christian  benevolence,  or  to  the 
general  welfare  of  the  Church  of  God.  This  he 
would  do  in  a  way  the  most  dehcate  and  hap- 
py ;  there  was  nothing  approaching  to  con- 
straint or  affectation  ;  nothing  to  offend  the  most 
fastidious  taste.  When  about  commencing  any 
work — for  instance,  before  making  an  appeal  to 
any  person  on  behalf  of  some  benevolent  object 
— he  would  invariably  make  it  the  subject  of 
prayer,  and,  if  possible,  get  some  Christian  friend 
to  unite  with  him.  His  correspondence  with  Dr. 
Mason,  with  the  late  Mr.  Bethune,  and  many 
others,  contains  frequent  references  to  concerts 
of  prayer,  the  proposal  of  which  originated  with 
himself. 

Activity  in  doing  good  is  another  trait  for 
which  Mr.  Proudfit  was  distinguished.  Evi- 
dence has  been  already  given  of  the  earnestness 
of  his  desire  for  the  advancement  of  the  spiritu- 
al interests  of  men  ;  other  proofs  will  follow  of 
the  readiness  with  which  he  engaged  in  any 


92  MEMOIR    UF    THE 

work  which  promised  to  do  good.  The  leading 
benevolent  societies  of  our  country  found  in  him, 
from  the  outset  of  their  existence,  a  steady  and 
cordial  supporter.  His  deep  sympathy  with 
those  on  the  frontier  settlements,  who  were  des- 
titute of  the  stated  ordinances  of  the  gospel,  in- 
duced him  to  make  repeated  and  long  journeys 
to  preach  to  them  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ,  and  also  led  him  to  publish  no  less  than 
five  considerable  volumes,  chiefly  for  circulation 
among  them.  During  his  journeys,  he  sought 
to  improve  the  casual  acquaintances  thus  form- 
ed to  the  spiritual  good  of  the  persons  whom  he 
met,  and  so  when  spending  a  few  days  or  a  few 
hours  at  the  house  of  a  friend.  In  a  word,  the 
resolution — "  to  aim  at  devising  new  methods  of 
doing  good" — was  carried  out  by  him  with  sin- 
gular faithfulness. 

A  truly  Catholic  spirit  was  another,  and  very 
marked  trait.  To  the  Church  of  his  fathers  he 
was  strongly  attached  ;  and,  until  the  whole  of 
his  time  required  to  be  devoted  to  the  Coloni- 
zation cause,  he  was  ever  ready  to  engage  in 
any  service  for  the  advancement  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  denomination  to  which  he  belonged ; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  he  loved  to  commune 
with  all  of  every  name  who  loved  our  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ.  In  the  first  years  of  his  ministry,  the 
lines  of  all  denominations  were,  in  some  respects. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  93 

more  rigidly  drawn  than  they  are  at  present. 
Such  was  the  case  when  he  penned  the  resolu- 
tion to  say,  "  grace  be  with  all  them  who  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity."  During  the 
last  thirty  years  of  his  life,  perhaps  no  one  en- 
joyed more  extensively,  as  no  one  could  feel  a 
sweeter  relish  for,  the  communion  of  saints.*  It 
was  a  subject  on  which  he  loved  to  speak,  es- 
pecially the  evidences  with  which  his  own  ex- 
tensive contact  with  Christians  of  various  de- 
nominations had  furnished  him,  that,  amid  the 
great  variety  of  names,  and  of  external  forms 
and  constitutions,  there  was  still  substantial  uni- 
ty, one  Lord,  and  one  Faith. 

Tenderness  of  the  reputation  of  others  is  an- 
other of  the  subjects  of  these  resolutions,  and 
was  a  trait  of  character  for  which  the  subject 
of  this  memoir  was  remarkable.  He  spake  not 
ill  of  his  neighbour.  If  he  could  not  speak  well 
of  a  person,  he  would  at  least  be  silent ;  but  the 
case  was  rare  indeed  in  which  he  could  not  find 
some  ground  of  commendation. 

*  Towards  the  close  of  his  life,  it  was  a  frequent  and  favourite 
saying,  that,  so  far  as  his  observation  extended,  the  liberal  Chris- 
tian (in  the  scriptural  meaning  of  the  phrase)  is  the  spiritual 
Christian. 


94  >MEMOIR    OF    THE 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DIARY SPIRITUAL    LIFE. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1800,  Mr.  Proud- 
fit  began  a  diary,  which,  with  occasional  inter- 
ruptions, was  continued  until  within  a  few  weeks 
of  his  decease.  This  record,  in  some  respects, 
is  not  so  full  as  could  be  wished  ;  it  gives  no  in- 
formation respecting  his  studies,  and  rarely  re- 
fers to  passing  events,  whether  of  the  political  or 
the  ecclesiastical  world  ;  it  is  rather  a  record  of 
the  writer's  own  spiritual  life  ;  and  though  it  may 
not,  on  this  account,  be  so  well  fitted  to  engage 
the  attention  of  the  general  reader,  it  cannot  fail 
to  be  perused  with  interest  and  profit  by  the  pri- 
vate Christian  and  the  spiritually-minded  minis- 
ter. 

The  great  end  of  Christian  biography  is  to 
show  forth  the  glory  of  Christ ;  to  display  the 
exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  in  his  kindness  to- 
wards us  ;  and  subordinate  to  this  and  connect- 
ed with  it,  the  instruction,  the  comfort,  and  the 
edification  of  his  people.  This  is  especially  true 
of  those  biographies  which  contain  the  diaries  or 
the  recorded  experiences  of  eminent  Christians. 
When  such  records  are  faithful,  they  exhibit  the 
dealings  of  God  with  the  soul,  and  the  exercises 


REV.   DR.   rUOUDFIT.  95 

of  the  renewed  soul  "  God-ward  ;"  and  ho^v 
greatly  they  are  prized  by  serious  Christians,  is 
manifest  from  the  high  place  which  has  been 
assigned  to  those  volumes  of  biography  which 
contain  them. 

But  while  the  perusal  of  these  annals  of  Chris- 
tian experience  is  alike  pleasant  and  profitable, 
we  must,  at  the  same  time,  read  them  with  cau- 
tion, if  we  would  derive  from  them  the  full  meas- 
ure of  instruction  which  they  are  well  fitted  to 
impart.  We  should  remember  that,  while  the 
great  process  by  which  the  people  of  God  attain 
a  meetness  for  heaven  is  in  all  cases  substantial- 
ly the  same,  there  is  a  great  diversity  in  the  cir- 
cumstances which  mark  its  commencement,  its 
progress,  and  its  consummation.  Every  observ- 
ing parent  will  note  diversities  of  temper  and 
propensity  in  his  children  ;  rarely  are  any  two 
perfectly  alike  ;  their  treatment  and  education 
must  hence  be,  in  some  respects,  different.  Thus 
is  it  in  the  family  of  God  :  while  each  one  of  its 
innumerable  members  is  a  monument  of  grace, 
there  is  not  exactly  the  same  development  of 
grace  in  all.  The  story  of  each  individual  in 
the  glorious  company  of  the  redeemed  is  a  dis- 
tinct and  peculiar  history.  We  should  not,  there- 
fore, be  surprised  if,  in  reading  the  recorded  ex- 
perience of  others,  we  find  some  features  of  their 
spiritual  history  unlike  our  own. 


90  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

The  diary  of  Mr.  Proudfit  was  begun  some 
six  years  after  his  entrance  into  the  ministry. 
By  this  time  he  had  reached  a  point  in  the  Chris- 
tian hfc  when  we  might  say  of  him  that  his 
"  heart  was  estabHshed  in  grace."  From  one 
of  his  resolutions,  it  appears  that,  in  the  first 
years  of  his  ministry,  and  probably  during  the 
season  of  his  preparation  for  it,  his  mind  had 
been  in  a  peculiarly  spiritual  frame,  and  that  he 
had  been  favoured  with  seasons  of  intimate  com- 
munion with  God.  The  diary  of  his  later  years, 
while  displaying  a  mind  profoundly  sensible  of 
the  power  of  indwelling  sin,  and  ardently  long- 
ing after  more  perfect  conformity  to  the  image 
of  the  Saviour,  at  the  same  time  indicates  a  set- 
tled conviction  that  he  had  been  made  a  parta- 
ker of  the  blessed  freedom  wherewith  Christ 
makes  his  people  free.  But  it  is  needless  to  an- 
ticipate. We  shall  here  introduce  some  passa- 
ges from  the  diary  itself,  viz. : 

"  October  SOth,  1800.  This  day  I  set  apart  for 
the  solemn  exercises  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer.  I  appropriate  that  command  of  Jeho- 
vah, my  own  God  in  covenant  through  Jesus 
Christ,  as  directed  to  me  in  particular,  '  turn,  O 
backsliding  children,  saith  the  Lord  ;  for  I  am 
married  unto  you.' — Jer.,  iii.,  14.  '  Therefore 
also  now,  saith  the  Lord,  turn  ye  even  unto  me 
with  all  your  heart,  and  with  fasting,  and  with 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  97 

weeping,  and  with  mourning.' — Joel,  ii.,  12.  I 
desire  to  turn  with  all  my  heart  !  The  Lord 
God  is  my  witness  that  I  wish  to  reserve  no- 
thing ;  I  desire  to  be  henceforth  for  him,  and  not 
for  another :  I  come  with  all  my  heart,  with  all 
my  soul,  with  all  my  strength,  with  all  my  mind  ; 
I  come  with  all  my  understanding,  to  be  employ- 
ed in  looking  into  and  adoring  the  mysteries  of 
redeeming  mercy  :  with  my  memory,  to  re- 
tain his  heavenly  truth  ;  with  my  will,  to  be 
moie  and  more  moulded  into  his  most  ris^hteous 
will ;  with  my  affections,  to  centime  upon  him  as 
my  only  portion  in  life,  in  death,  and  through 
eternity.  O  Lord,  accept,  through  the  sacrifice 
and  intercession  of  thy  dear  Son,  my  Saviour, 
this  sincere  though  unworthy  offering. 

"  I  desire  to  deplore  that  body  of  sin  and  death 
which  so  encumbers  me ;  I  would  particularly 
mourn  over  my  unbelief,  notwithstanding  the 
ample  assurances  which  God  has  given  of  his 
good-will  towards  me  ;  my  enmity,  notwith- 
standing the  immensity  of  his  love  to  me  ;  my 
pride,  notwithstanding  my  infinite  poverty,  mis- 
ery, and  blindness  ;  my  hypocrisy,  my  want  of 
sincerity  in  the  service  of  God,  and  disinterest- 
edness for  his  glory.  These,  and  each  of  them, 
I  now  most  cordially  lament  as  dishonouring  to 
my  Lord,  as  grieving  to  that  Spirit  by  whom  I 
have  been  sensibly  sealed  to  the  day  of  redemp- 
7  I 


98  MEMOIR    OF   THE 

tion,  and  unfriendly  to  my  own  comfort  and  use- 
fulness. 

"  With  fasting  and  mourning  I  desire  to  unite 
fervent  prayer, 

"  1st.  For  direction  as  to  the  improvement  of 
my  time  ;  although  it  is  short  and  uncertain,  yet 
with  a  proper  use  of  it  my  joy  and  crown 
through  eternity  are  intimately  connected. 

"  2d.  For  the  Lord's  blessing  on  my  labours  in 
the  congregation,  especially  in  the  exercises  of 
family  visitation  and  public  catechising,  in  which 
lam  now  engaged.  Luke,  v.,  10.  Ezek.,  xxxvii., 
5,7. 

"  3d.  For  his  blessing  on  the  two  sermons 
lately  published,  and  on  the  tracts  now  in  the 
press,  which  are  designed  for  circulation  among 
the  frontier  settlements.     1  Cor.,  i.,  27,  25. 

"  4th.  For  success  to  the  efforts  of  the  mis- 
sionary society,  and  for  the  Divine  presence  at 
our  meeting  on  Thursday  next.  Ps.  ii.,  8  ;  Ixxii., 
5,  6,  8,  9. 

"  These  petitions  I  present  in  the  name  of 
Jesus,  my  ever-living  advocate  ;  and  in  the  con- 
fidence of  being  heard,  I  will  endeavour  daily 
to  expect  an  answer.     John,  xiv.,  13,  14. 

''Friday,  October  31 5^,  1800.  Having  now 
finished  my  annual  course  of  catechising  through 
the  congregation,  I  bless  the  Lord,  who  has 
hitherto  helped  me,  and  resign  the  seed  which 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  99 

has  been  sown  to  the  gracious  Spirit,  fully  im- 
pressed that  all  means  are  effectual  only  as  ac- 
companied with  his  almighty  power.  May  he 
stoop  in  his  infinite  condescension  to  water  this 
seed  with  his  influences  ;  then  it  will  take  root, 
and  spring  up  to  the  glory  of  his  own  grace,  and 
the  salvation  of  that  people  whom  I  love  in  the 
bowels  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

''November  lltfi,  1800.  This  day  being  set 
apart  by  the  Presbytery  for  the  exercises  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  to  be  observed 
by  them  in  a  constituted  capacity,  I  desire  to 
spend  some  time  alone  at  the  throne  of  grace, 

"  1st.  For  my  brethren  in  the  ministry  belong- 
ing to  the  Presbytery  ;  that  the  Lord  would 
abundantly  qualify  each  of  us  for  our  important 
trust ;  that  he  would  render  us  faithful  in  the 
discharge  of  every  duty,  whether  private  or  pub- 
lic, enabling  us  to  warn  every  man,  and  teach 
every  man  in  all  wisdom  ;  that  he  would  con- 
tinue among  us  that  harmony  we  have  long  en- 
joyed, and  cause  his  pleasure  to  prosper  in  our 
hands. 

"  2d.  For  myself ;  that  he  would  endow  me 
with  much  spiritual  wisdom  for  dealing  with  the 
consciences  of  men.  He  that  winneth  souls  is 
wise  ;  much  divine  skill  is  requisite  for  exploring 
the  hidden  mystery  of  iniquity  in  the  human 
heart ;  but  I  am  more  brutish  than  any  man, 


100  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  have  not  the  knowledge  of  a  man.  I  de- 
sire, therefore,  to  look  up  to  my  Master,  both  for 
wisdom  and  utterance,  that  he  would  teach  me 
not  only  what  to  say,  but  how  to  say  it  in  the 
most  suitable  and  successful  manner.  Luke, 
xxi.,  15.  1  Cor.,  i.,  17.  Exod.,  iv.,  10-12. 
Jcr.,  i.,  6,  9. 

"  3d.  For  the  Lord's  blessing  on  that  part  of 
the  Church  with  which  we  are  immediately  con- 
nected ;  that,  while  our  vacancies  are  increas- 
ing, he  would  raise  up  youth  full  of  faith  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  supply  them.  Jer.,  iii.,  15. 
Luke,  X.,  2.     Eph.,  iv.,  7-9. 

"  4th.  That  Israel's  God  would  crown  with 
success  measures  which  are  adopted  in  this  and 
other  countries  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen,  and  that  those  who  are  al- 
ready sent  forth  may  be  gratefully  received." 

In  these  extracts  we  have  the  devout  utter- 
ance of  a  soul  longing  for  closer  communion  with 
its  God,  and  deeply  penetrated  with  a  sense  of 
its  own  unworthiness. 

The  setting  apart  a  specific  time  for  the  exer- 
cises of  private  prayer  and  fasting,  and  suppli- 
cating the  Divine  blessing  on  particular  objects, 
was  an  exercise  which  Mr.  Proudfit  maintained 
during  his  whole  subsequent  life. .  He  was,  in 
an  eminent  degree,  a  man  of  prayer — given  "  to 
prayer  and  th^  ministry  of  the  word  ;"  this  was 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  101 

his  character,  not  only  in  the  later,  but,  as  this 
passage  of  his  diary  proves,  in  the  earlier  years 
of  his  ministry. 

His  profound  sense  of  the  inefficacy  of  means 
(in  themselves)  to  produce  permanent  spiritual 
good  is  proved  by  the  extracts  just  given.  He 
was,  consequently,  by  no  means  satisfied  with 
the  perfunctory  performance  of  his  ministerial 
duties  ;  hence  his  earnestness  in  pleading  for  that 
Divine  influence  which  alone  could  render  the 
Word  and  ordinances  effectual  to  the  salvation 
of  sinners,  and  the  edification  of  the  Church, 
and  which  did  descend  upon  the  scene  of  his 
pastoral  labours  in  more  than  ordinary  measure. 

One  of  the  special  topics  of  supplication  here 
mentioned  is,  that  the  pastoral  visitation,  which 
had  just  been  completed,  might  be  attended  with 
the  Divine  blessing.  This  was  a  work  in  which 
Mr.  Proudfit  greatly  delighted,  and  for  which 
he  was  admirably  fitted.  His  method  of  con- 
ducting this  important  part  of  the  pastor's  work 
was  such  as  completely  to  relieve  it  of  that  stiff"- 
ness  which  so  often  attaches  to  a  formal  pastor- 
al visit ;  he  entered  upon  the  work  with  unaffect- 
ed ease:  the  younger  members  of  the  family  en- 
gaged the  largest  share  of  his  attention,  but 
while  seemingly  occupied  with  the  children,  he 
was,  in  fact,  speaking  in  a  very  impressive  man- 
ner to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  old  as 


102  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

well  as  the  young.  In  the  outset  of  his  minis- 
try, he  probably  adopted  the  methods  of  family 
examination  and  catechising  which  obtained  in 
the  Scottish  churches  of  that  period ;  but  it  was 
not  long  before  he  dropped  much  of  the  old  for- 
mality. The  writer  can  never  forget  the  im- 
pression made  upon  his  own  mind  (when  a  the- 
ological student)  during  a  pastoral  visitation  of 
one  district  of  the  congregation  of  Salem,  in 
which  he  was  permitted  to  accompany  his  ven- 
erable friend.  It  was  the  best  lecture  in  pastor- 
al theology  on  which  it  was  ever  his  privilege  to 
attend.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe  that 
this  was  a  work  in  which  Mr.  Proudfit  took  great 
delight ;  whether  at  home  among  his  own  peo- 
ple, or  abroad,  he  was  ever  ready  to  engage  in 
it.  Although  the  congregation  of  Salem  was  a 
large  one,  he  was  so  much  among  his  people 
that  he  knew  by  name  all  the  children  of  his 
charge,  and  was  able  to  recognise  them,  which 
he  invariably  did  whenever  he  met  them.  The 
happy  result  of  this  course  of  ministerial  faith- 
fulness was  seen  in  the  ardent  attachment  of  his 
people,  old  and  young,  down  to  the  day  of  his 
death  ;  in  the  large  number  of  the  youth  of  his 
charge  who  consecrated  themselves  to  the  gos- 
pel ministry  :  and  in  the  affectionate  veneration 
in  which  his  memory  is  now,  and  will  long  con- 
tinue to  be  held  in  the  town  of  Salem. 


REV.   DR.   PEOIJDFIT.  103 

"  Wednesday,  November  I9tk.  I  applied  to 
the  Lord  by  prayer,  that  he  would  communicate 
the  gifts  and  graces  which  he  saw  most  suitable 
for  that  period  of  the  world  in  which  my  lot  is 
cast,  and  for  that  section  of  his  vineyard  which 
he  has  appointed  me  to  cultivate.  Was  much  en- 
couraged by  reading  Psalm  viii.,  2,  and  from  the 
consideration  that  the  apostles — those  eminent 
instruments  of  turning  sinners  to  righteousness 
— were  ignorant  and  illiterate  fishermen  :  was 
led  to  conclude  that  the  contractedness  of  my 
natural  talents,  or  the  obscurity  of  my  situation, 
was  no  obstacle  with  a  sovereign  God  to  my  use- 
fulness in  his  Church.  He  makes  foolish  things 
of  the  world  to  confound  the  wise,  and  weak 
things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty,  that 
no  flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence." 

This  extract  deserves  notice,  from  the  pecu- 
liar nature  of  the  subject  of  prayer.  It  bespeaks  a 
mind  whose  predominant  desire  was  usefulness ; 
and  anxious,  therefore,  to  possess  those  accom- 
plishments which  were  best  adapted  to  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  it  had  been  placed,  in  the 
providence  of  God. 

The  period  at  which  Mr.  Proudfit  penned  this 
resolution  was,  on  many  accounts,  remarkable  ; 
not  only  was  it  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  cen- 
tury, but  it  then  seemed  as  if  a  new  order  of 
things  were  opening,  both  in  the  Church  and  in 


104  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

the  political  world.  In  the  Church,  the  spirit  of 
missions,  which  since  that  day  has  accompUshed 
such  splendid  triumphs,  had  just  begun  to  dis- 
play itself  with  a  life  and, power  unknown  for 
many  centuries  ;  while,  in  the  political  world, 
everything  appeared  to  indicate  the  speedy  dis- 
solution of  the  ancient  systems  of  European  des- 
potism. There  was  much  in  all  the  movements 
of  that  day  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the  serious 
mind.  It  was  a  truly  wonderful  era.  Still,  ev- 
ery age  has  its  own  peculiar  features  ;  and  he 
who  would  be  eminently  useful  in  his  day  and 
generation  must  "  have  knowledge  of  the  times, 
to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do."  We  cannot 
forbear  asking  whether  this  subject  be  sufficient- 
ly considered  by  ministers  in  the  present  day. 
Might  we  not  reasonably  expect  to  see  more 
eminent  examples  of  wide-extended  usefulness 
among  them  if  they  more  generally  and  earnest- 
ly prayed  for  the  special  qualifications  which  this 
age  demands  ? 

Had  Mr.  Proudfit  at  this  time  occupied  one 
of  the  high  places  of  the  Church,  or  had  he  been 
called  to  labour  in  one  of  the  great  cities  of  our 
country,  there  would  not,  perhaps,  have  been  so 
much  in  this  extract  to  excite  surprise ;  but  we 
must  remember  that  he  was  the  pastor  of  what 
was  then  a  secluded  country  congregation.    Yet^ 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  105 

in  the  comparative  solitude  of  Salem,  he  seems 
to  have  been  av^^ake  to  the  calls  of  the  stirring 
age  in  the  midst  of  which  we  now  are,  though 
it  was  then  just  opening  ;  he  appears  to  have 
been  deeply  sensible  of  the  responsibilities  grow- 
ing out  of  the  character  of  the  times  in  which 
he  lived.  That  for  which  his  heart  longed,  and 
for  which  his  prayer  was  thus  early  directed  unto 
God,  was  not  mere  distinction  as  a  scholar,  or 
even  as  a  theologian,  but  a  fitness  to  be  greatly 
and  widely  useful  ;  and  all  who  are  intimately 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Proudfit's  history,  with  his 
numerous,  varied,  and  constant  essays  to  do  good, 
will  readily  agree  that  this  request  was  not  un- 
heard. 

"  Tuesday,  December  2d.  Set  apart  some 
time  this  morning  for  the  following  solemn  exer- 
cises : 

"  1st.  Ascribing  praise  to  that  God  who  has 
brought  me  in  safety  to  this  place  amid  many 
dangers,  and  has  afforded  me  a  reception  so  cor- 
dial on  the  part  of  the  people.  Psalm  cxvi.,  6, 
7,  12. 

"  2d.  Prayer  for  his  return  to  my  soul,  revi- 
ving in  me  a  spiritual  frame,  and  preserving  me 
from  a  cold  formality  in  his  service.  Jer.,  xxxii., 
40.     Isai.,  xliv.,  3. 

"  3d.  That  he  would  direct  to  suitable  tracts 
for  circulation  for  the  frontier  settlements,  and 


106  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

render  me  more  wise  and  successful  in  winning 
souls  to  himself. 

"  Friday,  December  I2th.  This  morning  am 
greatly  borne  down  by  a  body  of  sin.  Prayer, 
meditation,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  all  the 
Other  duties  of  religion,  drag  heavily  along. 
Alas  !  how  cold  and  stupid  is  my  heart :  I  am 
more  brutish  than  any  man,  and  have  not  the 
knowledge  of  a  man.  Thou  alone,  O  Lord, 
knowest  the  vanity  and  deceitfulness  of  my 
heart,  and  to  thy  free,  sovereign,  omnipotent 
grace  1  look  for  reviving  it.  Come  from  the 
four  winds,  O  breath  !  and  breathe  on  these  lan- 
guid, lifeless  affections,  that  they  may  live  and 
centre  upon  thyself.  Surely,  where  sin  abounds 
in  me,  although  far  beyond  what  man  or  angel 
can  describe,  grace  does  much  more  abound 
through  the  offices  and  relations  of  my  ever- 
blessed  substitute. 

''  Saturday y  December  ISth,  I  was  greatly 
dejected  through  the  prevalence  of  an  evil  heart. 
Such  an  unusual  stupor  hath  seized  both  body 
and  mind,  that  I  feel  utterly  indisposed  for  any 
spiritual  exercises.  Surely,  if  I  reach  heaven,  I 
must  appear  the  greatest  wonder  in  all  its  man- 
sions ;  the  most  signal  monument  of  self-moved 
abounding  mercy.  O  Lord,  I  am  oppressed  ; 
undertake  for  me.  Thou,  heart-searching  Je- 
hovah, art  witness  that  free  grace  is  my  only 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  107 

plea,  that  I  desire  to  be  pardoned  of  grace,  to  be 
sanctified  by  grace,  to  be  quickened,  and  com- 
forted, and,  finally,  saved  by  grace. 

"  December  Mth,  Sabbath  evening.  This  day 
I  was  much  embarrassed  in  the  public  exercises. 
My  understanding  seemed  uncommonly  cloud- 
ed, and  my  affections  frozen  ;  I  am  ashamed  even 
to  think  of  the  imperfect  manner  in  which  the 
service  was  performed.  Truly  I  may  pronounce 
myself  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  lower  than 
the  lowest  of  the  Redeemer's  servants.  Lord, 
what  am  I,  or  what  is  my  father's  house,  that  I 
should  be  called  to  a  ministry  thus  honourable 
and  important  ?     I  desire, 

"  1st.  To  acknowledge  that  the  Lord  is  just 
in  this  dispensation,  and  has  chastised  me  less 
than  my  iniquities  deserve.  He  might,  for  my 
pride  and  presumption,  have  rendered  me  a  ter- 
ror to  myself,  and  to  all  around. 

"  2d.  I  am  taught  not  to  rejoice  in  anything 
external ;  in  gifts  or  attainments  of  any  kind, 
which  are  so  precarious  in  their  exercise,  un- 
certain as  the  morning  cloud,  and  the  early  dew 
which  passeth  away,  but  to  confide  in  that  God 
who  changeth  not  ;  whose  love,  and  covenant, 
and  promises  are  unalterably  the  same.  Return 
unto  him  as  thy  rest,  O  my  soul  ;  trust  in  the 
Lord  forever,  for  in  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  ever- 
lasting strength,  and  place  no  confidence  in  the 
flesh. 


108  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

"  3d.  I  am  taught  the  necessity  of  walking 
more  uniformly  by  faith.  We  cannot  command 
the  natural  sun  to  emit  a  single  ray  of  light,  nei- 
ther can  we  cause  the  shining  of  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  :  we  cannot  revive  nature  when 
she  languishes,  by  commanding  the  leaf  to  ex- 
pand in  the  forest,  or  the  blossom  to  give  its  fra- 
grance in  the  orchard  ;  equally  unable  are  we 
to  give  a  resurrection  to  decaying  grace  in  the 
soul.  O  Lord,  work  all  my  works  in  me,  and 
for  me. 

"  4th.  To  set  my  affections  on  things  above, 
rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of  that  hour  when,  re- 
lieved from  all  imperfection,  I  shall  see  my  God 
face  to  face,  and  know  even  as  I  am  known. 
Let  the  anticipation  of  this  hour,  O  my  soul,  be 
thy  consolation  while  passing  through  this  dreary 
vale.  Thy  warfare  will  soon  be  accomplished, 
and  the  last  cloud  that  intervenes  between  thee 
and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  shall  vanish  for- 
ever." 

In  these  extracts  we  have  a  record  of  exer- 
cises with  which  every  renewed  heart  is,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  acquainted.  One  most 
valuable  lesson  to  be  learned  from  such  a  rec- 
ord is  the  folly  of  building  our  hopes  upon  our 
inward  frames.  How  changeable  are  these  ! 
one  day  we  feel  a  love  so  ardent  that  we  ima- 
gine "  no  waters  can  ever  quench  it ;"  perhaps 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  109 

the  very  next  our  affections  seem  icebound. 
Christ  is  the  alone  basis  of  our  hope ;  all  our 
sufficiency  is  from  him  ;  our  present  life  must  be 
one  of  simple  faith  in  him — a  constant  "  looking 
unto  Jesus."  The  frequent  variation  in  the  feel- 
ings of  the  heart  in  which  grace  dvi^ells — the 
coldness  which  so  often  succeeds  the  warmth  of 
love — what  is  this  but  a  proof  of  our  emptiness 
— that  we  are  nothing,  that  Christ  is  all  in  all  1 

"  Monday  morning,  December  22d.  This 
morning  was  much  perplexed  with  a  variety  of 
cares,  and  desire  to  roll  them  all  on  my  covenant 
God,  believing  that  he  careth  for  me.  Set  apart 
some  time  for  prayer, 

"  1st.  That  the  Lord  would  maintain  that  life 
and  power  in  spiritual  duties  which  I  have  in 
some  measure  recovered,  and  preserve  me  from 
indifference  in  his  cause.     Rev.,  ii.,  5. 

"  2d.  That  he  would  graciously  direct  me  to 
a  suitable  subject  for  the  approaching  day  of 
humiliation,  and  give  an  outpouring  of  his  Spir- 
it to  the  congregation  on  that  day. 

"  3d.  That  he  would  undertake  for  me  in  all 
my  interests,  and  direct  me  as  a  man,  as  a  min- 
ister, as  the  head  of  a  family,  and  as  the  pastor 
of  his  Church  in  Salem. 

"  This  morning  I  have  experienced  some 
measure  of  the  Spirit  of  grace  and  supplication, 
and  felt  much  freedom  in  committing  all  that 
K 


110  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

concerns  me  to  the  Divine  management ;  found 
ardent  breathings  after  progressive  sanctifica- 
tion  ;  felt  willing  to  part  with  every  earthly  en- 
joyment, could  I  only  attain  to  perfection  in  ho- 
liness ;  read  over  my  resolutions,  and  renewed 
my  covenant  with  God,  accepting  him  in  all  his 
persons,  perfections,  and  relations,  as  my  guide, 
portion,  and  strength  ;  yielded  up  my  all  to  be 
utterly  at  his  disposal,  and  rendered  more  sub- 
servient to  the  interest  of  his  Church." 

With  this  revived  spirit,  and  with  these  ear- 
nest prayers  that  the  people  of  his  charge  might 
experience  "  the  blessing  which  God  commands 
in  Zion,"  did  Mr.  Proudfit  close  the  year  1800. 
He  thus  begins  the  new  year : 

^^  January  1st,  1801.  Another  year  of  my 
life  is  now  gone.  Ah  !  how  many  hours,  and 
days,  and  weeks  of  precious  time  have  been  mis- 
improved  ;  time  spent  either  in  doing  nothing, 
or  nothing  to  any  valuable  purpose.  Enter  not 
into  judgment  with  thy  servant,  for  in  thy  sight 
can  no  man  living  be  justified.  I  bless  the  Lord 
this  morning,  that,  notwithstanding  innumerable 
provocations,  he  has  kept  me  another  year  from 
open  reproach,  and  afforded  many  opportunities 
for  promoting  the  interests  of  his  Church.  Not 
to  me,  O  Lord,  not  to  me,  but  to  thy  name  be 
the  glory. 

"  As  I  am  now  entering  another  period  of  my 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  Ill 

life,  I  desire  to  renew  the  dedication  of  my  all 
to  God  and  his  service  in  the  gospel  of  his  Son. 
And  nov^,  O  Lord,  v^hat  wait  I  for  ?  my  hope  is 
in  thee  ;  make  me  to  know  mine  end,  and  the 
measure  of  my  days — what  it  is,  that  I  may 
know  how  frail  I  am. 

"  March  6th,  1801.     This  day  undertake  my 

journey  for  the  B ,  where  I  expect  to  spend 

some  time  preaching  to  that  vacancy.  I  desire 
to  aim  at  usefulness,  promoting  the  good  of  souls, 
whether  I  call  at  private  houses  or  occasionally 
meet  with  a  traveller  on  the  road.  I  would  thus 
endeavour  to  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season,  redeeming  my  time,  and  fulfilling  the 
ministry  which  is  committed  to  me  by  testifying 
upon  every  opportunity  the  gospel  of  the  grace 
of  God. 

"  Sabbath  evening,  March  29th.  This  morn- 
ing was  much  depressed  by  a  sense  of  my  car- 
nality and  deadness  ;  could  find  no  light  or  com- 
fort in  any  spiritual  exercise.  The  moment  I 
selected  any  suitable  promise  as  the  subject  of 
meditation,  my  heart  started  aside  like  a  deceit- 
ful bow  ;  but  afterward  found  some  reviving 
from  that  declaration  of  a  covenant  God,  I  will 
heal  their  backslidings  :  I  have  seen  his  ways, 
and  will  heal  him.  During  the  exercises  of  the 
sanctuary,  found  some  enlargement,  particularly 
in  explaining  Psalm  ciii.,  8,  9.     "  The  Lord  is 


112  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

merciful  and  gracious  ;  slow  to  anger,  and  plen- 
teous in  mercy."  How  often  and  sensibly  have 
I  experienced  the  truth  of  that  declaration, "the 
wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth ;  we  hear  the 
sound  thereof,  but  cannot  tell  whence  it  cometh, 
and  whither  it  goeth  ;"  so  is  every  one  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit ;  so  is  the  Christian  in  all 
those  revivals  which  he  occasionally  enjoys  in 
this  state  of  imperfection. 

''March  ^\st,  1801.  Set  apart  this  day  for 
the  purpose  of  humbling  my  soul  before  the 
Lord, 

"  1st.  Because  of  my  secret  sins  ;  my  breach 
of  former  resolutions,  that  I  have  not  walked  so 
intimately  with  God,  nor  lived  for  him  so  en- 
tirely as  I  had  solemnly  engaged. 

"  2d.  In  devout  prayer  to  God,  that  he  would 
strengthen  me  with  all  might  in  the  inner  man, 
and  thus  render  me  an  able  minister  of  the  New 
Testament ;  especially  that  he  would  direct  me, 
at  the  present  moment,  so  critical  to  the  Church 
and  our  country.  Read  over  my  resolutions, 
and  renewed  them  before  the  Lord.  Sung  Ps. 
cxix.,  5-8." 

The  critical  period  here  referred  to  probably 
was  that  which  immediately  succeeded  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Jefferson  as  President  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  The  decided  enmity  of  that  emi- 
nent person  to  the  Christian  faith,  though  not  so 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  113 

well  known  at  that  time  as  it  now  is,  was  more 
than  suspected  ;  and  very  many,  consequently, 
looked  upon  his  elevation  to  the  presidential 
chair  with  the  greatest  alarm.  They  deemed  it 
equivalent  almost  to  a  national  renunciation  of 
the  Christian  name. 

''September  2lst,  1802.  This  morning  I  set 
apart  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  thanks  to 
God  for  my  safe  return  after  a  severe  indisposi- 
tion abroad.  The  Lord  preserveth  the  simple  : 
I  was  brought  low,  and  he  helped  me.  Return 
unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul,  for  the  Lord  hath  dealt 
bountifully  with  thee. 

"  2d.  Let  me  realize  in  this  affliction  a  new 
proof  of  my  frailty,  and  the  importance  of  do- 
ing each  day  the  work  of  that  day. 

"  3d.  Let  me  learn  from  the  circumstances  of 
this  dispensation,  being  seized  in  my  absence 
from  home,  that  I  am  ignorant  not  only  of  the 
time,  but  the  place  of  my  departure.  When  I 
leave  my  family  and  friends,  I  know  not  wheth- 
er we  shall  ever  meet  again  in  time.  What  dil- 
igence, therefore,  is  necessary,  instructing,  ex- 
horting, and  promoting  by  every  possible  means 
their  spiritual  and  eternal  interests  ?  When  1 
address  my  congregation  one  Sabbath,  I  know 
not  whether  another  opportunity  shall  ever  be 
enjoyed.  Let  it  hereafter  be  my  chief  concern 
to  preach  in  the  plain,  unaffected  language  of 
8  K2 


114  MEMUIK    OF    THE 

the  Holy  Ghost ;  anxious  not  for  words  which 
may  please,  but  for  truths  which  may  savingly 
and  everlastingly  profit  them. 

"  I  desire  now,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  a  deceit- 
ful heart,  to  surrender  myself,  without  any  re- 
serve, to  be  the  Lord's  ;  it  is  my  unfeigned  wish 
that  my  body,  my  soul,  my  time,  my  talents,  my 
worldly  substance  maybe  so  disposed  of  as  that 
God  may  be  most  glorified,  and  the  souls  of  men 
most  edified.  O  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ; 
I  am  thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  thy  handmaid ; 
thou  hast  loosed  my  bonds.  I  will  oflfer  to  thee 
the  sacrifice  of  thanksgiving,  and  will  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord." 

The  absence  here  referred  to  was  occasioned 
by  Mr.  Proudfit's  being  appointed  by  the  Synod 
to  supply  the  pulpit  of  Dr.  Mason,  of  New- York, 
who  had  gone  to  Europe  on  a  mission  in  behalt 
of  the  Theological  Seminary  founded  by  the 
Associate  Reformed  Church.  Mr.  Proudfit  re- 
mained about  two  months  in  the  city,  and,  while 
there,  laboured  with  as  much  diligence  and  zeal 
as  if  he  had  been  the  regular  pastor  of  the  con- 
gregation. At  this  time  the  Pearl-street  Church 
was  vacant,  and  such  was  the  impression  left 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people  by  Mr.  Proudfit's 
labours,  that  not  a  few  of  the  most  serious  and 
intelligent  among  them  were  desirous  of  calling 
him  as  a  colleague  to  Dr.  Mason.     Such,  prob- 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  115 

ably,  would  have  been  the  result,  and,  humanly 
speaking,  a  most  happy  one,  had  it  not  been  that 
Dr.  Mason,  while  in  Europe,  had  formed  another 
plan,  which,  though  never  carried  into  effect,  was 
the  means  of  defeating  this. 

"  January  1st,  1803.  This  morning  read  over 
my  resolutions,  and  find  infinite — infinite  cause 
of  humiliation.  In  all  things,  every  day  that  I 
live,  in  every  duty  which  I  attempt  to  discharge, 
in  every  thought  which  passes  through  my  mind, 
I  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  O  Lord,  en- 
ter not  into  judgment  with  thy  servant ;  I  flee 
to  thy  mercy,  through  the  sacrifice  of  thy  dear 
Son,  for  the  forgiveness  of  the  failures  of  the  past 
year.  I  desire  to  rest  on  thy  promised  strength 
for  discharging  the  duties,  and  bearing  the  tri- 
als, and  resisting  the  temptations  of  the  coming 
year.  My  heart  and  my  flesh  fail,  but  God  is 
the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  for- 
ever." 

"  Sabbath  evening,  February  20th,  1803. 
Upon  my  return  from  the  sanctuary,  was  bowed 
to  the  very  dust  through  an  apprehension  that 
my  labours  were  unprofitable  ;  could  discern  Ut- 
tle  evidence  that  they  were  successful  either  for 
the  conversion  of  sinners,  or  building  up  saints 
to  greater  attainments  in  holiness.  Was  encour- 
aged in  revolving  Isai.,  Iv.,  10 :  "  as  the  rain 
cometh  down,  and  the  snow  from  heaven,  and 


116  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

watereth  the  earth,  making  it  to  bring  forth  and 
bud."  Although  the  snow  enricheth  the  earth 
and  renders  it  more  productive,  yet  their  fruits 
do  not  immediately  appear  ;  the  natural  world 
remains  barren  for  weeks  and  months  after  the 
descent  of  the  snow  ;  and  as  it  is  in  the  natural, 
so  it  may  be  in  the  spiritual  world  under  the 
ministry  of  the  Gospel.  Although  the  word 
preached  does  not  immediately  profit,  yet,  here- 
after, through  the  effectual  operations  of  the  Lord 
the  Sanctifier,  it  may  spring  forth  and  bear  fruit 
to  life  everlasting.  Who  knows  but  after  my 
faltering  tongue  is  silent  in  the  grave,  and  my 
feeble  labours  have  ceased  forever,  these  truths, 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  may  be 
rendered  effectual  to  the  salvation  of  these  hear- 
ers ?  O  Lord,  I  commend  to  thy  grace  all  that 
I  have  ever  been  enabled  to  speak  in  thy  name, 
whether  privately  or  publicly.  Bless  it  in  thine 
own  time,  and  give  me  patience  to  wait  thy  time. 
O  remember  thy  word,  upon  which  thou  didst 
enable  me  to  hope  soon  after  I  entered  thy  ser- 
vice in  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  by  the  rec- 
ollection of  which  my  soul  has  often  experien- 
ced a  joy  unspeakable  :  "  follow  me,  and  I  will 
make  you  fishers  of  men." 

This  is  only  one  of  the  many  records  of  a  de- 
jected heart  in  view  of  the  seeming  barrenness 
of  his  pastoral  labours.      Yet,  in  general,  his 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  IIT 

mind  appears  to  have  been  turned  to  some  one 
of  the  many  precious  promises  of  the  word  of 
God  to  the  faithful  minister.  Few  pastors  are 
to  be  found  who  have  not  almost  with  anguish 
of  spirit  asked,  "  who  hath  believed  our  report  V* 
Undoubtedly  there  is  a  measure  of  anxiety  which 
the  faithful  minister  of  Christ  cannot  but  'feel — 
nay,  ought  to  feel ;  yet  it  may  be  doubted  if  the 
anxiety  which  is  so  often  experienced  to  see  the 
immediate  fruit  of  their  labours  be  proper.  The 
times  and  the  seasons  of  spiritual  harvest  God 
hath  reserved  in  his  own  power.  Experience 
shows  that  the  word  of  Christ  is  really  produ- 
cing its  mighty  work  in  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  the  hearers,  even  when,  for  a  considerable 
time,  there  is  no  outward  manifestation  of  it. 
"  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death" — faithful  in  the 
ministry  of  the  word,  and  in  continual  prayer, 
is  the  Master's  command  ;  the  success  is  wholly 
in  his  own  hand,  and  He  gives  it,  as  to  measure, 
and  manner,  and  time,  according  to  his  own  sov- 
ereign will. 

Often  as  were  his  seasons  of  dejection,  Mr. 
Proudfit  had  ample  evidence  to  believe  that  his 
ministry  was  owned  by  his  Divine  Master,  and 
many  were  the  times  in  which  his  soul  was  made 
to  magnify  the  God  of  his  salvation.  Such  a 
record  occurs  under  date  of 


118  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

"  Sabbath  evening,  March  6th.  This  day  I 
have  enjoyed  unusual  Comfort  and  enlargement 
in  public  ordinances.  I  neither  expect  nor  as- 
pire after  more  exquisite  bliss  on  this  side  heaven 
than  the  employment  of  preaching  a  crucified 
Saviour  to  perishing  sinners  under  the  influences 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Felt  a  temptation,  during 
the  morning  service,  not  to  cease  from  the  ex- 
ercise. So  abundant  was  the  measure  of  divine 
life  and  strength  communicated,  that  I  thought  I 
could  have  preached  to  eternity  vv^ithout  being 
exhausted.  I  can  do  all  things,  I  know,  from 
repeated  sensible  experience,  through  Christ 
strengthening  me.  After  my  return  to  my  own 
house,  felt  ardent  movements  of  heart  towards 
all  who  had  been  hearing,  and  would  willingly 
have  espoused  them  one  by  one  to  one  husband, 
that  they  might  hereafter  be  presented  as  chaste 
virgins  to  Christ  Jesus. 

"June  26th,  1804.  This  morning  set  apart 
some  time  for  the  exercise  of  prayer, 

"  1st.  That  the  Lord  would  direct  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  my  studies,  particularly  in  preparing 
that  series  of  discourses  which,  in  an  humble  re- 
liance on  his  grace,  I  am  now  undertaking. 
Thou,  Lord,  hast  commanded  the  light  to  shine 
out  of  darkness  ;  wilt  thou  not  shine  upon  my 
heart,  and  lead  me  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  ? 
John,  xvi.,  13.  . 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  119 

"  2d.  That  he  would  condescend  to  apply 
them  savingly  to  the  souls  of  some  to  whom 
they  may  be  delivered.  I  acknowledge  I  am 
utterly  unworthy  of  an  honour  so  great ;  but 
thou  hast  received  gifts  for  men,  even  the  rebell- 
ious, that  the  Lord  God  may  dwell  among  us  ; 
and  now  to  the  agency  of  the  Lord  the  Spirit  I 
commit  them,  that  they  may  become  subservient 
to  thy  glory  in  the  salvation  of  sinners.  To 
thee,  also,  I  commit  my  soul,  body,  and  estate, 
for  thou  hast  redeemed  me,  and  art  worthy  of 
all  that  I  am  and  am  capable  of  performing. 
Psalm  xlviii.,  12-14. 

"  July  4:th.  Set  apart  some  time  for  prayer 
for  two  churches,  S m  and  N.  Y.,  which  ap- 
pear critically  situated  ;  that  the  Lord  would 
preside  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  direct  their  de- 
liberations.    Psalm  cxxi.,  6-9.     Dan.,  iv.,  35. 

"  2d.  That  he  would  enable  me  to  act  a  be- 
coming part,  and  give  me  entire  submission  to 
his  will,  whatever  be  the  event.  Ps.  cxxiii.,  12  ; 
Ixxxiv.,  11,  12. 

"  3d.  In  imploring  the  Divine  blessing  on  va- 
rious persons  in  the  congregation  who  are  afflict- 
ed either  in  body  or  in  mind,  and  have  desired 
an  interest  in  my  prayers. 

"  4th.  That  he  would  vouchsafe  his  presence 
at  the  celebration  of  the  ordinance  of  the  Sup- 
per shortly  to  be  dispensed  in  H ,  and  give  ef- 


120  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ficacy  to  the  word  of  his  own  grace  which  I  am 
there  called  to  proclaim.     Matt.,  xxviii.,  20." 

The  series  of  discourses  mentioned  in  the  first 
of  these  extracts,  though  not  the  first  publica- 
tions, formed  the  first  considerable  volume  which 
he  gave  to  the  world.  He  had  already  published 
two  sermons,  the  first  one  preached  before  the 
Missionary  Society,  and  another,  in  1802,  be- 
fore the  Synod.  In  the  preface,  he  observes, 
"  these  discourses  were  prepared  for  the  pulpit 
during  the  summer  of  1804,  with  little  expecta- 
tion of  being  afterward  ofliered  from  the  press. 
The  author,  since  that  time,  has  occasionally  itin- 
erated through  the  frontier  settlements,  and  in 
these  visits  has  sincerely  deplored  the  desolate 
condition  of  the  inhabitants."  After  mentioning 
the  circumstances  which  induced  him  to  publish 
the  discourses,  he  adds,  "  the  subjects,  however 
imperfectly  discussed,  are  without  doubt  infinite- 
ly interesting  ;  and  the  plan,  he  humbly  hopes,  is, 
in  some  measure,  adapted  to  the  situation  of  the 
frontier  inhabitants." 

The  volume  is  entitled  "  Discourses  on  the 
leading  Doctrines  and  Duties  of  Christianity ;  or, 
the  Ruin  and  Recovery  of  Man"  (1806). 

The  title  of  the  volume  is  a  sufficient  indica- 
tion of  its  design,  which  is  to  unfold,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  fallen  and  undone  condition  of  man  in 
his  natural  state,  and,  on  the  other,  the  way  of 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  121 

recovery  from  all  the  consequences  of  the  apos- 
tacy,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Dr.  Proudfit's  theology  was  that  of  the 
Reformers  and  Nonconformists ;  his  turn  of  mind 
was  too  unspeculat'ive  and  devotional  to  admit 
of  indulgence  in  metaphysical  reasoning,  or 
dwelling  upon  any  other  than  the  grand  essen- 
tial verities,  the  belief  of  which  is  necessary  to 
salvation.  He  was  the  very  reverse  of  a  po- 
lemic ;  and  hence,  though  the  grand  points  enlar- 
ged upon  in  the  Ruin  and  Recoverynre,  the  con- 
nexion of  the  human  race  with  the  First  Adam 
— the  universal  corruption  of  man — the  work 
of  the'  Second  Adam  as  the  substitute  for  the 
guilty,  and  the  agency  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
application  of  redemption  ;  though  these  great 
doctrines  of  our  holy  faith  are  clearly  unfolded, 
they  are,  at  the  same  time,  so  closely  applied  to 
the  conscience  and  heart  of  the  readei',  that  any 
evangelical  Christian,  whatever  may  be  the  par- 
ticular shade  of  his  creed,  cannot  fail  to  peruse 
them  with  pleasure  and  edification.  How  well 
this  volume  was  received  by  the  religious  pub- 
lic may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that,  within  less 
than  ten  years,  it  went  through  three  editions. 
In  the  last  it  was  enlarged  to  two  volumes,  em- 
bracing discourses  on  the  principal  duties  of  the 
Christian  life. 

The  grand  subject  of  these  and  of  all  the  oth- 
L 


122  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

er  volumes  subsequently  published  by  Dr.  Proud- 
fit,  is  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified.  In  almost 
every  sermon  the  great  Redeemer  is  held  up  to 
view  as  "  bearing  our  sins  in  his  own  body  on 
the  tree,"  as  opening,  through  the  perfection  of 
his  atonement  and  the  merit  of  his  obedience,  a 
fountain  where  the  most  guilty  and  polluted 
might  wash  and  be  clean. 

Of  course,  in  such  a  series  there  could  hardly 
fail  to  be  a  sort  of  monotony  to  one  who  should 
read  the  volumes  consecutively  ;  but  consider- 
ing the  persons  for  whom  they  were  designed, 
and  the  method  in  which  it  was  expected  they 
would  be  read — in  the  social  meeting,  and  at  the 
fireside  on  the  Sabbath  evening — there  is  a  very 
suitable  reiteration  of  the  great  theme  of  the 
gospel,  "  Christ  crucified  for  us."  These  ser- 
mons are  doctrinal,  and  yet  they  are  eminently 
practical ;  doctrinal,  inasmuch  as  their  topics  are 
the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  gospel ;  practical, 
because  these  topics  are  discussed,  not  in  a  cold 
and  scientific  way,  but  with  all  the  life  and 
warmth  which  they  are  so  well  fitted  to  inspire ; 
and  they  are  applied  with  solemn  earnestness  to 
arouse  the  careless,  to  convict  the  sinner,  to  point 
the  inquirer  to  the  Lamb  of  God ;  to  direct, 
strengthen,  warm,  and  comfort  the  Christian  in 
the  work  and  warfare  of  the  present  life.  There 
is  scarcely  a  sermon  which  docs  not  contain 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  123 

some  passages  of  more  than  ordinary  eloquence. 
Their  style  is  so  plain  as  to  adapt  them  to  the 
humblest ;  yet  they  have  sufficient  of  the  graces 
of  rhetoric  to  commend  them  to  persons  of  re- 
fined taste. 

As  has  been  already  hinted,  we  shall  not  find, 
either  in  the  earlier  or  later  volumes  of  Dr. 
Proudfit,  original  vievs^s  or  profound  discussions. 
Such  v^^as  not  his  aim.  Whatever  powers  of  in- 
vention he  possessed,  they  seemed,  during  his 
whole  ministry,  to  have  been  exercised  mainly 
for  the  discovery  of  methods  of  doing  good. 
Still,  the  volumes  bear  the  stamp  of  a  refined 
and  cultivated  mind,  an  acquaintance  with  class- 
ical literature,  and  especially  with  the  writings 
of  those  great  lights  of  the  16th  and  17th  cen- 
turies, whose  works  will  do  more  to  furnish  the 
mind  of  the  Christian  pastor  than  the  writings 
of  all  the  Greek  and  Latin  fathers  put  together. 

In  1804  Mr.  Proudfit  published  another  small 
volume,  entitled  "The  One  Thing  Needful."  It 
consisted  of  three  discourses,  viz.,  The  Barren 
Fig-tree  ;  The  Healing  Balm  ;  to  which  were 
added,  in  a  subsequent  edition.  The  Spiritual 
Steward  ;  The  Female  Labourer ;  Ministerial 
Labour  and  Support ;  Life  and  Immortality. 
One  of  these — the  Fentale  Labourer — was  re- 
published in  Edinburgh  under  the  auspices  of 
the  late  excellent  Mr.  Brown,  of  Whitburn. 


1*24  MEMOIR    OF    THE   - 

When  Mr.  Proudfit  commenced  the  pubhca- 
tion  of  these  volumes,  there  was  not,  as  has  been 
ah'eady  stated,  a  single  tract  society  in  the  Uni- 
ted States ;  and  although  there  were  a  few  mis- 
sionary institutions,  yet  their  means  were  very 
limited,  and  their  labourers  few.  This  method 
of  supplying  the  spiritual  wants  of  the  numer- 
ous frontier  settlements,  which  were  rarely  vis- 
ited by  Christian  ministers,  was  vastly  more  im- 
portant then  than  it  would  be  now,  when  so 
much  is  doing,  and  in  so  many  ways,  by  all 
branches  of  the  Church,  to  supply  the  wants  of 
the  needy  at  home.  In  those  days  it  was  almost 
the  only  practicable  method  of  doing  them  good, 
and  the  review  of  these  works  of  Mr.  Proudfit 
sets  his  active  and  untiring  energy  in  a  sti'ong 
and  beautiful  light.  He  had  himself  been  among 
these  poor  settlers  ;  he  had  seen  with  his  own 
eyes  their  spiritual  destitution  ;  his  sympathies 
were  awakened  in  their  behalf,  not  merely  while 
on  the  spot,  but  after  his  return  to  his  own  fa- 
voured home,  he  thought  of  the  scattered  sheep 
in  the  wilderness,  and  he  set  himself  to  work  to 
do  them  good.  His  volumes  were  published,  not 
with  the  remotest  idea  of  pecuniary  gain,  but 
simply  to  supply  that  lack  of  service  which  is 
now  supplied  by  our  various  benevolent  institu- 
tions. They  were  widely  circulated  in  our  own 
and  in  other  states,  either  gratuitously  or  at  a 


REV.  Dll.  PROUDFIT.  125 

price  far  below  their  cost.  In  this  good  work 
Mr.  Proudfit  was  aided  by  several  benevolent 
friends,  and  particularly  by  the  late  D.  Bethune, 
Esq.,  of  New- York,  and  the  late  General  Van 
Rensselaer,  of  Albany. 

Besides  the  productions  of  his  own  pen,  Mr. 
Proudfit  published  in  this  year  (at  Salem)  an  edi- 
tion of  that  admirable  old  work,  Guthrie's  Trial 
of  a  Saving  Interest  in  Christ,  for  circulation  in 
his  own  congregation,  and  among  the  new  set- 
tlements. Of  the  happy  results  of  these  benev- 
olent labours,  numerous  testimonies  might  be 
given  from  men  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States  ;  one  or  two,  however,  must  suflice.  A 
friend  in  Plattsburg  writes,  "  the  tracts  I  have 
put  in  circulation  ;  not  given  them  away,  but  to 
pass  from  neighbour  to  neighbour,  with  this  in- 
struction endorsed  on  the  title-page.  We  feel,  in 
behalf  of  ourselves  and  our  destitute  settlement, 
great  obligations  to  you  for  your  concern  and 
kind  care  of  us  ;  we  have  not  had  any  one  to  dis- 
pense to  us  the  Word  of  Life,  not  even  a  mission- 
ary visit  during  the  whole  summer.  A  very 
profitable  disposition  of  religious  books  can  be 
made  here,  and  in  the  newer  and  more  remote 
settlements  to  almost  any  extent.  On  the  last 
Wednesday  of  each  month  since  we  parted,  I 
have  united  with  you  in  the  little  concert  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer."  Another  friend  in  Massachu- 
L2 


126  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

setts  writes,  "  I  ought,  long  ago,  to  have  written 
to  you,  and  acknowledge  the  reception  of  a  num- 
ber of  books  which  you  were  so  obliging  as  to 
send  me.  I  have  read  them  with  much  pleas- 
ure, and,  I  trust,  profit.  Others  have  read  them, 
and  several  of  them  have  literally  been  worn 
out  by  frequent  perusal." 

Mr.  Proudfit  began  the  year  1805  by  a  mis- 
sionary visit  to  the  Oneida  and  the  Stockbridge 
Indians.  Among  the  first-named  tribe,  the  gos- 
pel had  been  preached  so  early  as  1766,  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Kirkland,  who  laboured  among  them 
for  a  long  time  under  the  patronage  of  the  soci- 
ety in  Scotland  for  propagating  Christian  knowl- 
edge. Of  the  privations  to  which  he  was  expo- 
sed, Mr.  Kirkland  gives  a  graphic  account  in  a 
letter  written  in  1767  ;  "  from  week  to  week  I 
am  obliged  to  go  with  the  Indians  to  Oneida 
Lake  to  catch  eels  for  my  subsistence.  I  have 
lodged  and  slept  with  them  till  I  am  as  lousy  as 
a  dog.  Flour  and  milk,  with  a  few  eels,  have 
been  my  only  livmg.  Such  diet,  with  my  hard, 
labour  abroad,  is  not  sufficient  to  support  na- 
ture ;  my  strength,  indeed,  begins  to  fail.  My 
poor  people  are  almost  starved  to  death.  There 
is  one  family  of  four  persons  whom  I  must  sup- 
port the  best  way  I  can,  or  they  would  certain- 
ly perish.  Indeed,  I  would  myself  gladly  fall 
upon  my  knees  for  such  a  bone  as  I  have  often 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  127 

seen  cast  to  the  dogs.  My  constitution  is  almost 
broken  ;  my  spirits  sunk  ;  yet  my  heart  still 
bleeds  for  these  poor  creatures.  I  had  rather  die 
than  leave  them  alone  in  their  present  miserable 
condition."*  Amid  privations  like  these,  and 
sometimes  with  his  life  in  peril,  this  excellent 
man  continued  at  his  post,  and  in  the  course  of 
a  few  years  his  heart  was  made  glad  by  the 
promise  that  the  wilderness  would  soon  rejoice, 
and  blossom  as  the  rose.  In  a  letter  dated  De- 
cember, 1770,  and  written  by  three  of  the  Onei- 
da chiefs,  they  say,  "the  holy  word  of  Jesus 
has  got  place  among  us,  and  advances.  Many 
have  lately  forsaken  their  sins  to  appearance, 
and  turned  to  God."  Mr.  Kirkland  died  at  Par- 
is, Oneida  county,  28th  March,  1808,  aged  six- 
ty-seven, having  spent  forty  years  as  a  mission- 
ary among  the  Indians. 

The  mission  among  the  Stockbridge  Indians 
was  commenced  by  the  Rev.  John  Sargeant  in 
1734,  during  the  residence  of  that  tribe  on  the 
banks  of  the  Housatonic  River.  Its  history  is 
remarkable  for  the  distinguished  men  who  have 
been  connected  with  it.  Mr.  Sargeant,  its  found- 
er, who  died  in  1749,  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of 
his  age,  is  described  as  "  a  man  of  such  singular 
worth  and  varied  excellence,  that  his  equal  is 
rarely  met  with  in  the  Church  of  Christ.     The 

*  History  of  Missions,  i.,  139. 


128  MEMUlll   or    THL 

brightness  of  his  genius,  the  extent  of  his  learn- 
ing, the  sweetness  of  his  temper,  the  agreeable- 
ncss  of  his  conversation,  the  strength  and  fervour 
of  his  zeal,  the  unweariedness  of  his  diligence, 
were  the  least  of  those  qualities  wTiich  distin- 
guished and  ennobled  his  character."  He  was 
succeeded,  in  1751,  by  the  great  Jonathan  Ed- 
w^ards,  whose  fame  is  in  all  the  churches  ;  for 
six  years  this  mission  was  under  the  charge  of 
this  illustrious  man,  and  it  was  during  these 
years  that  he  wrote  his  two  great  works  on  the 
Freedom  of  the  Will,  and  on  Original  Sin.  Soon 
after  the  conclusion  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
a  portion  of  the  tribe,  accompanied  by  the  Rev. 
John  Sargeant,  son  of  the  founder  of  the  mis- 
sion, removed  to  a  tract  of  land  six  miles  square, 
which  had  been  offered  to  them  by  the  Oneida 
Indians,  where  they  built  a  town  which  they  call- 
ed New  Stockbridge.  In  1796  their  number 
was  about  300,  all  of  them  nominal  Christians, 
but  only  thirty  of  them  members  of  the  Church. 
Mr.  Sargeant  was  pastor  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Proudfit's  visit,  as  appears  from  the  diary. 

"  Thursday  evening,  January  10th,  1805.  This 
afternoon  had  an  opportunity  of  preaching  to 
the  Stockbridge  Indians,  from  1  Tim.,  i.,  15  ; 
'  this  is  a  faithful  saying,'  &c. ;  was  much  affect- 
ed at  witnessing  their  pitiable  situation  in  a  tem- 
poral respect,  being  destitute  of  almost  every 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  129 

earthly  enjoyment,  and  was  led  to  admire  the 
sovereignty  v^hich  makes  the  distinctions  among 
men  :  felt  deeply  moved  with  compassion  to- 
wards their  souls,  and  found  some  enlargement 
in  expostulating  with  them  to  receive  that  Jesus 
who  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners  of  all 
nations  indiscriminately.  Spent  the  evening 
with  the  Rev.  John  Sargeant,  missionary  to  that 
tribe,  and  was  highly  entertained  with  the  pious 
conversation  of  himself  and  family ;  was  led 
forward,  in  imagination,  to  the  joys  of  that  world 
where  we  shall  be  admitted,  not  only  to  the  fel- 
lowship of  Jesus,  the  mediator,  but  of  the  re- 
deemed of  all  countries  and  ages.  During  the 
evening,  was  gratified  in  hearing  a  narrative  of 
the  labours  of  the  elder  Mr.  Sargeant,  former 
missionary  to  the  same  tribe  of  Indians  in  New- 
England,  and  with  the  perusal  of  letters  address- 
ed from  Rev.  A.  Burr  to  Mrs.  Sargeant  upon 
the  decease  of  her  truly  excellent  and  laborious 
husband,  dated  1749.  Could  not  refrain  from 
reflecting  on  the  advantages  of  these  holy  men 
who  were  born  so  long  before  us,  and  admitted 
sooner  to  the  communion  of  that  Being  who  is 
the  fountain  of  glory  and  bliss, 

"  '  Safe  landed  on  that  blissful  shore, 
Where  pilgrims  meet  to  part  no  more.' 

My  soul,  be  thou  diligent  in  following  those  who, 
9 


130  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

through  faith  and  patience,  are  now  inheriting 
the  promises." 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  give  additional  ex- 
tracts from  Mr.  Proudfit's  diary,  which  will  serve 
to  illustrate  some  of  the  more  remarkable  fea- 
tures of  his  character  as  a  Christian,  and  as  a 
Christian  minister. 

''Saturday,  March  2d.  This  morning  set 
apart  some  time  for  meditation  and  prayer,  that 
the  Lord  would  countenance  me  in  preparing 
for  the  press  the  '  Ruin  and  Recovery  of  Man.' 
I  fall  before  thee  as  less  than  the  least  of  thy  min- 
istering servants  or  saints.  I  am  a  child,  Lord, 
and  utterly  incapable  of  thinking,  or  speaking, 
or  writing  for  thy  glory  or  the  advantage  of  oth- 
ers, only  as  I  am  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of 
Wisdom.  It  is  not  deeper  darkness  in  the  nat- 
ural world  without  the  influences  of  the  sun,  than 
it  is  in  my  soul  without  thy  grace  to  illumine  ; 
but  thou  hast  committed  the  treasure  to  earthen 
vessels,  that  the  excellency  may  be  of  thyself, 
and  not  of  us.  I  now  present  myself  to  thee  as 
an  empty  vessel ;  impart  to  me  such  measure  of 
the  spiritual  treasure  as  appears  suited  to  the 
age  in  which  I  live,  and  that  section  of  thy  Church 
in  which  thou  hast  appointed  me  to  labour.  I 
know  that  in  a  covenant  Jehovah  there  is  a  ful- 
ness inexhaustible,  and  that  he  is  not  the  least 
impoverished  by  imparting  ;  I  know,  also,  that 
F2 


REV.  DE.  PROUDFIT.  131 

he  will  have  a  Church  on  earth  while  sun  and 
moon  endure,  and  that  he  will  employ  men  as 
instruments  of  her  edification,  and  why  not  me, 
insignificant  and  unworthy  as  I  am  ?  Found  en- 
couragement from  2  Cor.,  iii.,  5,  6.     James,  i.,  v. 

"  Thursday,  July  2d.  Agreed  with  two  Chris- 
tian friends  to  spend  one  hour  this  afternoon,  each 
in  his  own  closet,  commending  to  God  a  domes- 
tic concern  of  great  importance.  We  mutually 
agreed  not  to  presume  to  dictate  to  a  sovereign 
God,  but  merely  implore  him  to  manage  it  in  the 
manner  most  conducive  to  the  general  interests 
of  all  concerned. 

"  We  previously  conversed  with  each  other 
on  the  following  portions  of  Scripture,  which  we 
considered  suitable  and  encouraging  in  our  ap- 
plication to  our  Father's  throne:  Psalm  cxxxviii., 
8.  Matt.,  xviii.,  19,  20.  Concluded  with  sing- 
ing Ps.  Ixxiii.,  23-26. 

"  Wednesday,  October  SOth,  1805.  This  day 
began  to  revise  the  series  of  discourses  for  pub- 
lication, and,  therefore,  set  apart  some  time  for 
the  exercise  of  special  prayer, 

"  1st.  That  the  Lord  would  direct  me,  would 
instruct  me  in  the  mysteries  of  his  gospel,  giv- 
ing me  suitable  apprehensions  of  the  ruin  of 
man  by  nature,  and  the  method  of  his  recovery 
through  the  substitution  and  sufferings  of  his 
dear  Son. 


132  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

"  2d.  That  he  would  direct  to  such  discussion 
of  each  text  as  may  be  most  agreeable  to  the 
analogy  of  faith,  and  most  adapted  to  the  edifi- 
cation of  serious  souls. 

"  3d.  That  he  would  give  bodily  strength  to 
execute  the  work,  and  accept  of  this  humble  at- 
tempt to  advance  the  honour  of  his  great  Name, 
and  promote  the  best  interests  of  men." 

This  volume  consists  of  sixteen  sermons  ;  the 
preface  bears  date,  Salem,  September,  1806. 
The  design  of  the  author  in  this  work  will  be 
learned  from  the  following  extract :  "  although 
the  subjects  illustrated  in  the  following  pages 
have  often  occupied  the  pen  of  controversy,  yet 
I  have  cautiously  avoided  entering  the  field.  To 
have  stated  and  answered  the  various  objections, 
must  have  swelled  the- work  to  an  immoderate 
size,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  have  defeated  the 
design  of  the  publication.  My  intention  was 
not  to  contend  with  the  adversaries  of  our  sal- 
vation, but,  if  possible,  by  a  plain  exhibition  of 
Divine  truth,  to  espouse  sinners  to  the  Saviour, 
and  advance  his  own  children  to  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  his  fulness."  The  preceding  pas- 
sages from  the  diary  show  in  what  spirit  the 
work  was  prepared  for  the  press  ;  the  din  of 
controversy  between  Calvinists  and  Hopkinsians 
was  then  beginning  to  be  heard  ;  but  the  author 
of  the  Ruin  and  Recovery  did  not  enter  the  field 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  133 

in  the  character  of  a  polemic,  but  as  one  whose 
"  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  was"  that 
men  might  be  saved.  These  sermons  will  also 
serve  to  show  the  style  of  Mr.  Proudfit's  minis- 
trations among  his  own  people,  as  it  appears 
from  the  preface  that  they  were  originally 
preached  to  them  in  the  course  of  the  year  1804. 

Under  this  date  he  thus  sings  of  the  goodness 
of  the  Lord. 

"  August  1st,  1806.  This  morning  set  apart 
some  time  for  meditation  and  prayer : 

"  1st.  That  the  Lord  would  revive  his  work 
in  my  own  soul,  enabling  me  to  live  more  entire- 
ly above  this  vain,  polluted,  and  polluting  world : 
encouraged  by  Hosea,  xiv.,  4-6.     John,  iv.,  14. 

"  2d.  That  he  would  revive  his  work  in  the 
congregation,  w^here,  alas  !  iniquity  abounds,  and 
the  love  of  many  is  waxing  cold. 

"  3d.  That,  as  he  has  produced  a  very  ma- 
terial change  in  my  temporal  circumstances  by 
the  increase  of  property,  he  would  direct  to  the 
most  prudent  and  profitable  use  of  my  talents. 
O  Lord,  the  earth  is  thine,  and  the  fulness  there- 
of, and  thou  givest  these  treasures  to  whomso- 
ever thou  wilt.  I  am  only  a  steward  of  thy 
bounty,  and  desire  to  occupy  them  to  the  honour 
of  thee — the  sovereign,  liberal  giver — to  the  in- 
terests of  my  generation,  and  to  my  own  re- 
joicing at  the  great  day  of  the  appearing  of  Je- 
M 


134  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

sus  Christ.  Lord,  I  am  thine  ;  thou  didst  create 
me ;  thou  hast  preserved  me  all  my  hfe  long  to 
this  day ;  thou  hast  conferred  upon  me  blessings 
without  number  of  a  temporal  nature  ;  thou  hast 
afforded  me  the  comfortable  assurance  of  the  sal- 
vation of  thy  dear  Son ;  thou  hast  counted  me 
faithful,  putting  me  into  the  ministry ;  thou  hast 
opened  for  me  many  doors  of  usefulness,  and 
crowned  me  with  many  pledges  of  thine  appro- 
bation in  discharging  the  duties  of  this  office. 
What  shall  I — what  can  I  render  to  thee  for  all 
these  benefits  ?  Could  I  offer  thee  ten  thousand 
lives,  I  must  still  remain  an  infinite,  eternal  debt- 
or. Since,  therefore,  I  have  but  one  life,  and  that 
very  short  and  uncertain,  may  I  think  of  nothing 
but  devotion  to  the  service  of  my  God  and  my 
generation.  Let  my  soul  live,  and  it  shall  praise 
thee,  and  let  thy  judgments  help  me.  I  have 
gone  astray  like  a  lost  sheep ;  seek  thy  servant, 
for  I  do  not  forget  thy  commandments." 

"  Sabbath  morning,  February  21  st,  1808.  An 
unpleasant  occurrence  has  for  some  time  disturb- 
ed the  peace  of  the  session  and  congregation ;  I 
have,  therefore,  agreed  with  a  few  Christian 
friends  to  spend  an  hour  in  committing  it  by 
prayer  to  Him  who  is  the  wise  sovereign  and 
gracious  disposer  of  all  events.  Oh  !  what  con- 
descension has  our  heavenly  Father  displayed  in 
that  invitation,  *  call  upon   me  in  the  day  of 


REV.  DR,  TKOUDFIT.  135 

trouble  ;  I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glo- 
rify me.'  Psalm  1.,  15.  Special  promises  are 
made  by  our  Divine  advocate  to  the  united  sup- 
plication of  his  children.  Matt.,  xviii.,  19.  In 
reflecting  upon  this  occurrence,  I  was  support- 
ed by  the  consideration  that  Jehovah  loves  the 
Church,  that  he  has  purchased  it  with  his  ow^n 
blood,  that  her  interests  are,  therefore,  infinitely 
dear  to  him,  and  he  will  give  her  peace  so  far 
as  shall  conduce  to  his  honour  and  her  advan- 
tage ;  found  comfort  from  the  consideration  that 
the  member  who  occasioned  this  trouble  was  a 
child  of  the  spiritual  family  ;  therefore,  felt  an 
assurance  that  he  would  be  brought  to  a  convic- 
tion of  his  error,  would  obtain  the  forgiveness 
of  his  offence,  and  be  restored  to  the  paths  of 
righteousness. 

"  By  this  seemingly  adverse  occurrence,  my 
soul  has  been  roused  from  a  torpid,  lifeless  frame, 
into  which  it  had  sunk ;  my  pride  has  been  mor- 
tified, my  patience  has  been  tried,  and,  I  hope, 
improved.  I  have  been  more  weaned  from  men, 
because  this  affliction  came  from  one  with  whom 
I  had  long  been  in  habits  of  intimacy,  with  whom 
I  had  frequently  mingled  sweet  counsel  in  the 
house  of  God,  and  in  our  own  houses.  I  have 
been  taught  experimentally  the  truth  which  I 
had  long  believed,  and  often  preached,  that  we 
are  strangers  and  sojourners  upon  earth,  and  am 


136  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

constrained  to  long  for  a  translation  to  that  world 
where  no  jar  or  jealousy  shall  ever  enter ;  where 
nothing  shall  interrupt  our  peace  with  God  or 
with  each  other,  but  harmony  and  love  shall 
reign  forever." 

Happy  would  it  be  for  the  Church  if  congre- 
gational difficulties  and  cases  of  discipline  were 
more  frequently  dealt  with  after  this  manner. 
We  too  often  forget  that  the  Church  is  infinitely 
dearer  to  her  exalted  Head  and  Redeemer  than 
she  can  be  to  her  most  eminent  and  holy  mem- 
bers or  ministers. 

"  Same  day,  preached  at  Rupert  from  John, 
vi.,  27.  '  Labour  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
to  everlasting  life,  which  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
give  you.'  Had  some  freeness  in  exhibiting  the 
fulness  of  Jesus  and  his  salvation. 

"  On  the  forenoon  of  Tuesday  repaired  to 
Whitehall,  and  in  the  evening  preached  from 
Isai.,  Iv.,  3.  '  I  will  make  an  everlasting  cove- 
nant with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  of  David.' 
The  people  in  both  settlements  appeared  very 
affectionate,  seemingly  hungry  for  the  bread  of 
life,  but  destitute  of  any  one  to  dispense  it  sta- 
tedly. The  harvest  is  indeed  plenteous,  and  the 
fields  are  becoming  white.  There  is,  in  many 
of  our  frontier  settlements,  an  uncommon  thii-st 
for  the  waters  of  the  sanctuary.  On  my  return, 
I  called  to  spend  some  time  with  Mrs.  H ,  a 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  137 

friend  in  Jesus,  who  being  absent,  I  was  led  to 
stop  at  a  public  house.  The  landlady  I  soon 
discovered  to  be  much  exercised  to  godliness  ; 
her  conversation  on  the  great  doctrines  of  prac- 
tical religion  was  truly  refreshing  and  edifying. 
She  was  a  Baptist  by  profession,  and  an  utter 
stranger  until  that  interview  took  place  ;  yet  I 
soon  felt  towards  her  as  a  sister  in  the  spiritual 
family  ;  she  appeared  incomparably  nearer  and 
dearer  to  me  than  hundreds  of  Presbyterians 
who  are  called  by  the  same  name,  and  encircled 
within  the  same  ecclesiastical  pale  with  myself 
Christians  of  all  communions,  of  all  conditions, 
of  all  colours,  are  I'eally  of  one  body  in  Christ, 
and  members  one  of  the  other.  Their  bond  of 
union  is  love-  to  Jesus,  their  common  Saviour 
and  Lord  ;  and  is,  therefore,  not  only  intimate, 
but  indissoluble,  unaltered,  and  unalterable  by 
any  outward  variety  of  sentiment,  or  circum- 
stances, or  place." 

In  this  extract  there  is  an  illustration  of  that 
truly  catholic  temper  by  which  Mr.  Proudfit  was 
distinguished.  To  that  branch  of  the  Church 
with  which  he  was  connected  he  was  warmly 
attached  ;  yet  he  was  not  a  sectarian  :  he  could 
and  did  say  from  the  heart,  "  grace  be  with  all 
them  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sinceri- 
ty." While  we  cannot  be  too  deeply  imbued  with 
this  catholic  spirit — this  love  of  the  brethren  for 
MS 


138  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

Jesus's  sake — we  may,  at  the  same  time,  under- 
rate the  importance  of  that  particular  depart- 
ment of  the  Church  to  which  we  belong.  Ca- 
thohcism  and  unsectarianism  are  by  no  means 
equivalent  terms. 

"  September  Sth,  1808.  I  set  apart  this  morn- 
ing for  the  exercises  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting  before  the 
Lord  that  trial  which  has  long  pressed  heavily 
upon  me,  and  therefore  I  would, 

"  1st.  Confess  and  mourn  over  my  sins  which 
are  the  procuring  cause  of  this  and  all  other  ca- 
lamities.    Isai.,  lix.,  1,  2. 

"  2d.  I  acknowledge  that  the  Lord  would  be 
just  in  the  actual  infliction  of  this  threatened  evil, 
and  ten  times  greater.     Ps.  ciii.,  10. 

"  3d.  In  fervent  expostulation  that,  for  his 
name's  sake  and  for  his  Son's  sake,  he  would 
condescend  to  avert  this  scourge,  and  to  his 
name  I  will  aim  at  ascribing  the  glory  of  the 
deliverance.  Job,  xxxiii.,  20.  Jer.,  xxxiii.,  3. 
Heb.,  iv.,  14-16. 

"  October  I9th.     Set  apart  this  morning  for 
the  exercise  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  \ 
and  desire, 

"  1st.  To  be  humbled  before  the  Lord  for  the 
sin  of  my  nature  and  life.    Ps.  li.,  1-5. ;  cxxx.,  2, 3. 

"  2d.  To  commit  to  his  management  that  mat- 
ter which  has  so  deeply  interested  me  for  some 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  139 

time  past,  and  desire  that  the  Lord  would  pre- 
pare me  for  the  issue.  He  is  infinitely  wise,  and 
knows  what  is  most  conducive  to  my  good  and 
his  own  glory  ;  he  is  very  pitiful,  and  of  tender 
mercies,  and '  will  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve 
the  children  of  men.' 

"  3d.  I  desire  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  my  dependance  upon  God,  and  my  ob- 
ligations to  be  devoted  wholly  to  the  advance- 
ment of  his  cause  in  the  edification  of  his  Church ; 
I  therefore  sincerely  pray  that  he  would  direct 
me  to  spend  the  few  days,  or  months,  or  years 
which  await  me  in  the  manner  best  calculated  to 
promote  these  ends. 

*'  4th.  I  earnestly  look  up  to  the  Lord  for  spe- 
cial blessings  on  my  family,  my  friends,  my  con- 
gregation, on  students  of  theology,  on  the  min- 
isters of  religion,  and  on  Zion  throughout  the 
whole  world. 

"  November  I6th,  1808.  This  morning  have 
been  taking  into  consideration  various  providen- 
ces which  have  occurred  agreeably  to  my  wish- 
es, and  which  I  desire  to  record  to  the  praise  of 
the  Divine  condescension,  and  for  my  own  en- 
couragement in  seasons  of  darkness  and  adver- 
sity. Truly,  he  is  faithful  who  has  promised  ; 
he  is  good  to  them  that  wait  for  him,  to  the  soul 
that  seeketh  him.  I  find  that  everything  is  pros- 
perous ;  that  I  enjoy  a  peace  which  the  world 


140  MEMOIR    OF    TilE 

can  neither  give  nor  take  ^way,  in  proportion  as 
I  live  by  faith,  resting  on  the  promises,  the  pow- 
er, and  faithfulness,  and  tender  mercies  of  a  cov- 
enant Jehovah." 

These  extracts  are  given  in  the  order  in  which 
they  occur,  and  serve  to  show  how  "  in  all  things, 
by  prayer  and  supplication,  he  made  known  his 
requests  unto  God." 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year  Mr.  Proudfit  pub- 
lished another  small  work,  entitled  "  Our  Danger 
and  Duty :  two  Sermons,  delivered  30th  of  No- 
vember, 1808,  being  the  day  appointed  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Washington  for  Fasting  and  Pray- 
er, on  account  of  the  alarming  aspect  of  Divine 
Providence  towards  our  country."  With  some 
brief  extracts,  containing  sentiments  as  well  suit- 
ed to  the  present  as  to  any  former  crisis  of  our 
country,  we  shall  close  this  chapter.  In  consid- 
ering the  crimes  with  which  we  are,  as  a  nation, 
chargeable,  the  author  observes,  "  may  not  the 
records  of  our  courts  of  justice  testify  how  com- 
mon are  the  crimes  of  false  sw^earing  and  for- 
gery— crimes  peculiarly  offensive  to  God,  and 
which  tend  to  sap  the  very  foundation  of  social 
order  among  men  ?  Do  not  our  daily  prints  an- 
nounce the  very  alarming  increase  of  bankrupt- 
cies in  our  country  ?  Probably  one  thousand 
instances  of  private  failure  occur  now  where 
one  occurred  twenty  years  ago.    This  fact  evin- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  141 

ces  the  corruption  of  public  morals,  as  these  fail- 
ures must  ordinarily  proceed  either  from  a  con- 
cealment of  property  with  a  view  to  defraud  the 
creditor,  or  from  a  mode  of  living  utterly  beyond 
our  ability."     "  Permit  me  to  notice   another 
cause  of  the  Divine  displeasure,  those  bitter  con- 
tentions, those  mutual  reproaches,  which  abound 
among  us.     What  are  our  seasons  of  election 
but  seasons  of  detraction  and  defamation,  by 
which  the  passions  of  each  other  are  inflamed  ? 
What  liberties  are  frequently  taken  in  reproach- 
ing public  men,  and  misrepresenting  public  meas- 
ures !     Does  not  the  living  God  explicitly  forbid 
the  indulgence  of  '  hatred,  variance,  emulations, 
wrath  V     An  untender,  unforbearing  spirit  be- 
tween man  and  man  is  always  inexcusable,  but 
it  is  peculiarly  offensive  when  cherished  by  those 
who  are  citizens  of  the  same   commonwealth, 
whose  civil  and  social  interests  are  intimately 
blended  together.     In  republican  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, where  public  virtue  is  the  great  pillar 
on  which  government  rests,  a  degree  of  party 
spirit  may  be  profitable  ;  one  portion  of  the  com- 
munity thus  becomes  a  '  watch-tower'  to  the  oth- 
er ;  but  when  the  spirit  becomes  outrageous  and 
infuriate,  when  jealousy  pervades  every  class  of 
the  community,  and  extinguishes  mutual  confi- 
dence, it  becomes  equally  reproachful  and  ruin- 


142  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

The  following  letter  of  Dr.  Mason  did  not 
come  to  hand  in  time  to  be  inserted  in  its  proper 
place,  yet  it  deserves  not  to  be  wholly  omitted, 
on  account  of  its  connexion  with  the  history  of 
the  Episcopal  controversy  of  1805.  It  explains 
the  origin  of  the  Christian's  Magazine,  a  period- 
ical of  which  Dr.  Mason  was  the  principal  edi- 
tor, and  in  which  some  of  the  best  productions 
of  his  pen,  viz.,  his  essays  on  Episcopacy,  on  the 
Church,  and  on  the  use  of  Lots,  made  their  first 
appearance.  The  late  Drs.  Livingston,  Ro- 
meyn,  and  M'Leod,  also  largely  contributed  to 
its  pages.     It  is  dated 

"  New- York,  5th  April,  1805. 
"  My  dear  Brother, 
"With  this  you  will  receive  four  copies  of 
proposals  for  a  new  periodical  work.  You  will 
discern  at  once  its  general  design,  which  I  trust 
you  will  approve.  It  has  become  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  employ  measures  of  defence  against 
the  outrages  of  the  hierarchists.  We  have  long 
treated  them  with  the  greatest  courtesy,  even 
while  they  showed  no  disposition  towards  an 
exchange  of  civilities ;  but  there  is  a  point  be- 
yond which  concession  becomes  dishonour,  and 
to  that  point  matters  have  now  arrived.  Treat- 
ed with  incessant  contumely  from  the  pulpit  and 
the  press,  their  ministrations  branded  as  impie- 
ties, and  themselves  as  thieves  and  robbers,  the 


REV.  UR.  PROUDFIT.  143 

Presbyterian  clergy  cannot  sit  down  any  longer 
under  Episcopal  abuse  without  sacrificing  their 
consciences  and  authenticating  their  disgrace. 

"  It  is  not  intended  so  much  to  wage  war 
against  the  prelatists  as  to  establish  the  Scriptural 
truth.  This  seems  to  be  present  duty.  It  is  no 
secret  that  few  Presbyterians  are  well  acquaint- 
ed with  the  principles  and  reasons  of  their  own 
church  order,  and,  therefore,  they  are  more  vul- 
nerable on  this  than  on  any  other  point.  Some 
have  undoubtedly  laboured  too  much  in  mere 
externals,  and  others,  running  into  the  opposite 
extreme,  pass  them  over  too  slightly.  I  think 
this  is  too  common,  and  a  sinful  omission  on  the 
part  of  most  evangelical  ministers.  Laudably 
bent  upon  the  precious  doctrines  of  the  cross, 
which  directly  bear  upon  the  sinner's  hope,  they 
have  insensibly  dropped  the  habit  of  instructing 
their  flocks  in  the  constitution  and  arrangements 
of  the  Christian  Church.  This  is  certainly  for 
a  lamentation ;  it  has  thrown  disrespect  upon 
the  Redeemer  as  King  over  the  holy  hill  of  Zion, 
and  the  churches  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
are  smarting  under  the  effects  of  their  negligence. 
As  we  shall  connect  various  other  matters  with 
disquisitions  concerning  Church  government,  we 
flatter  ourselves  that  the  work  will  prove  ac- 
ceptable to  the  bulk  of  serious  readers,  and  we 
look  for  aid  in  the  prosecution  of  it  from  breth- 


144  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ren  who  are  contending  under  the  same  banners 
against  a  common  foe.  I  am,  my  dear  brother, 
with  much  affection,  yours, 

"  J.  M.  Mason." 

From  this  letter  it  appears  that  the  Episcopal 
controversy  of  1805  was  begun,  not  by  Presby- 
terians, but  by  prelatists.  The  former  made  no 
attacks  upon  diocesan  Episcopacy;  they  did 
not  deny  the  validity  of  Episcopal  ordination. 
During  the  whole  discussion  they  acted  only  in 
self-defence.  Dr.  Mason,  no  doubt,  entered  into 
it  with  warmth,  and  he  did  not  always  express 
his  sentiments  in  the  gentlest  terms ;  but  at  no 
time  did  he  allow  his  zeal  to  get  so  much  the 
better  of  his  judgment  as  to  induce  him  to  un- 
church his  opponents,  or  to  deny  their  right  to 
the  precious  liberty  wherewith  Christ  has  made 
his  people  free. 

The  same  cause  which  produced  the  contro- 
versy of  1805  has  led  to  its  revival  in  our  own 
day,  viz.,  prelatic  assumption  and  exclusiveness. 
The  difference  between  Episcopalians  and  Pres- 
byterians respecting  the  government  of  the 
Church  is  doubtless  a  proper  subject  of  discus- 
sion, but  to  all  right-minded  men  it  presents 
no  reason  why  they  should  not  recognise  each 
other  as  Christians,  and,  in  so  far  as  they  have 
attained,  walk  by  the  same  rule,  and  mind  the 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  145 

same  things.  It  would  be  a  strange  thing  should 
one  who  believes  ordination  to  be  by  Divine 
right,  an  act  of  the  presbytery,  affirm  that  such 
men  as  Ridley,  Latimer,  and  Hall  never  were 
ministers  of  Christ.  Equally  strange  should  it 
be  that  any  can  be  found  professing  to  have 
learned  the  truth  in  Jesus,  who,  after  reading 
the  records  of  the  experience,  and  the  labours  of 
such  a  man  as  Dr.  Proudfit,  can  deny  that  he 
was  a  true  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Such  a 
denial  may,  on  either  side,  seem  to  be  demanded 
by  the  jure  divino  theory  ;  but,  however  logical 
the  consequence  may  appear,  its  utter  falsity  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  the  Church's  Head  has 
owned  these  men  as  his  ministers,  and  has  stamp- 
ed their  ministry  with  the  seal  of  his  approba- 
tion. 

10  N 


246  MEMOIR    OF    THE 


CHAPTER  V. 

PERSONAL  TRIALS,  PASTORAL  SUCCESS. 

From  the  interest  which  Mr.  Proudfit  took  in 
missions,  and  his  readiness  to  engage  in  the  work 
of  a  domestic  missionary  at  a  time  when  it  was 
tenfold  more  arduous  and  self-denying  than  it  is 
now,  it  might  be  inferred  that  he  would  rejoice 
with  a  special  joy  at  the  formation  of  that  board, 
which  has  been  so  eminently  owned  of  God — 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  For- 
eign Missions.  Into  the  details  of  its  interesting 
history  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  go ;  this  much, 
however,  may  be  observed,  that  its  early  history 
affords  a  fine  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  a  par- 
ticular Providence,  and  shows  what  vast  results 
maybe  dependant  upon  circumstances  seemingly 
unimportant.  The  perusal  of  a  missionary  ser- 
mon by  the  late  Dr.  John  Livingston  is  said  to 
have  been  the  means  of  directing  the  attention  of 
Newel,  Mills,  and  their  companions  to  the  wants 
and  the  woes  of  the  heathen  world.  The  subse- 
quent history  of  the  Board  presents  us  with  a  stri- 
king instance  of  the  power  of  faith,  and  one  to 
which  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  fond  of  re- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  147 

earring.  When  these  young  men  proposed  to 
go  forth  as  the  missionary  representatives  of  the 
American  Church,  it  was  at  first  deemed  question- 
able whether  the  Church  would  be  able  to  sustain 
them,  and  recourse  was  had  to  the  London  So- 
ciety for  aid  in  the  event  of  its  being  needed  ; 
but  these  fears  were  soon  dismissed  :  the  church- 
es went  forward  to  the  work,  confident  in  the 
resources  of  their  Divine  Head  ;  and  now,  as 
we  contemplate  the  vast  increase  of  the  mission- 
ary spirit,  and  the  success  which  has  been 
vouchsafed  to  the  Board  in  the  East  and  the 
West,  we  may  well  exclaim,  "  what  hath  God 
wrought !" 

Of  this  Board,  Mr.  Proudfit  was  early  chosen 
a  corporate  member,  and  from  first  to  last  its 
managers  had  his  fullest  confidence  and  warm- 
est affection.  In  1817,  he  indeed  cordially  uni- 
ted with  others  in  organizing  the  United  and  For- 
eign Missionary  Society  ;  but  he  did  not  look 
upon  the  latter  as  in  any  way  the  rival  of  the 
former  ;  he  no  doubt  deemed,  and  most  justly, 
every  such  institution,  though  independent,  the 
auxiliary  of  others,  and  fitted  to  bring  a  larger 
measure  of  exertion  to  bear  upon  the  one  great 
object — the  publication  of  the  gospel  among  all 
nations.  To  the  American  Board  Mr.  Proud- 
fit  was  an  early  and  large  contributor ;  for  many 
years  he  regularly  attended  its  annual  meetings, 


148  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  those  seasons 
as  among  the  most  delightful  of  his  life. 

In  1812  Mr.  Proud  fit  was  honoured  with  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  by  two  colleges, 
Middlebury  and  Williams,  the  reason  of  which 
double  conferment  will  be  explained  by  the  fol- 
lowing letter  from  the  late  President  Fitch,  of 
Williams  : 

"  Williams  College,  September  23d,  1812. 
"  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  officially 
that  at  our  last  commencement  the  corporation 
did  themselves  the  honour  to  confer  on  you  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  You,  sir,  and 
your  friends  may  think  this  measure  unusual,  as 
the  same  degree  was  last  year  conferred  on  you 
at  Middlebury  ;  but  it  is  a  standing  rule  in  our 
Board  to  confer  no  doctorate  unless  the  person 
on  whom  it  is  conferred  be  nominated  by  three 
members  at  a  previous  meeting  of  the  Board,  and 
the  nomination  accepted.  This  was  your  case. 
We  did  not  then  know  that  Middlebury  had  an- 
ticipated us  in  the  honour  we  intended  to  you 
and  to  ourselves  ;  nor  did  this,  in  our  view,  make 
it  improper  that  we  should  proceed.  You  will 
thus  be  able  duly  to  appreciate  our  intentions. 
"  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours,  &c., 

"  Ebenezer  Fitch. 

"  Rev.  Alexander  Proudfit,  D.D." 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  149 

During  this  year  some  correspondence  was 
had  with  Dr.  Proudfit  in  relation  to  the  vice- 
presidency  of  Princeton  College.  From  the  pa- 
pers which  remain,  it  does  not  appear  that  a  for- 
mal offer  of  the  office  was  made  ;  but,  by  a  let- 
ter of  the  late  Dr.  Taylor,  of  New  Brunswick,  it 
appears  that  the  attention  of  the  Trustees  of  that 
venerable  institution  had  been  turned  towards 
Dr.  Proudfit  as  a  person  well  qualified  for  the 
post,  and  a  semi-official  inquiry  was  made  wheth- 
er the  invitation,  if  tendered,  would  be  accept- 
ed. What  reply  was  made  to  this  letter  by  Dr. 
Proudfit  we  are  unable  to  state,  no  copy  of  it  be- 
ing found  among  his  papers. 

One  of  the  essential  qualifications  of  a  Chris- 
tian bishop,  according  to  the  judgment  of  Paul,  is 
the  bringing  up  his  children  in  the  fear  of  God. 
The  following  is  one  of  many  extracts  w^hich 
might  be  made  from  the  diary,  showing  Dr. 
Proudfit's  parental  faithfulness,  and  how  ear- 
nestly he  longed  after  all  the  members  of  his 
family  in  Christ  Jesus  : 

"  September  22d,  1813.  This  is  the  birthday 
of  my  eldest  son.  I  have,  therefore,  resolved 
to  spend  the  morning  in  prayer  with  him  and  the 
family,  offering  him  and  all  my  dear  children  to 
a  covenant  God.  O  my  father's  God,  and  thou 
who  hast  been  my  God  and  Father,  accept  the 
dedication  of  these  pledges  of  thy  love  ;  may 
N 


150  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

they  be  all  thine,  in  soul  and  body,  in  time  and 
through  eternity.  Early  sanctify  them,  as  thou 
didst  Samuel,  Josiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Timothy, 
and  thus  keep  them  from  those  follies  which  are 
common  to  youth,  and  raise  them  up  for  useful- 
ness in  thy  Church  when  my  feeble  labours  are 
ended That  he  would  perfect  all  that  con- 
cerns me,  and  especially  seal  with  his  approba- 
tion that  volume  which  is  nearly  finished,  and 
the  others  which  have  been  published." 

The  following  are  his  reflections  on  a  silent 
Sabbath,  under  date  of 

"  Sabbath,  August  1th,  1814.  Am  this  day 
prevented  by  indisposition  from  attending  on  the 
duties  of  the  sanctuary,  although  the  pulpit  is  sup- 
plied by  one  of  my  brethren.  The  Lord  is  righ- 
teous in  laying  me  aside,  and  denying  me  the 
honour  of  speaking  publicly  in  his  name.  How 
often  have  I  been  silent  when  I  might  and  ought 
to  have  been  proclaiming  his  great  salvation  ! 
How  often  have  I  preached  by  constraint,  not 
willingly,  not  with  a  becoming  importunity  and 
affection,  the  unsearchable  riches  of  the  Saviour  ! 
I  have  too  frequently  indulged  a  cold,  indifferent 
spirit,  when  my  soul  should  have  been  wholly 
absorbed  in  zeal  for  my  Masters  glory,  and  soli- 
citude for  the  souls  of  men  perishing  in  their  sins ! 
O  Lord,  I  have  been  truly  an  unprofitable  ser- 
vant ;  it  is  because  thy  patience  is  infinite  that 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  151 

I  am  not  withered  to  the  root  as  a  cumberer  of 
thy  vineyard. 

"But  while  my  soul  is  truly  humbled  under 
the  present  chastisement  of  a  covenant  God,  I 
adore  his  condescension  for  all  the  opportunities 
he  has  afforded  me  to  recommend  Jesus  and  his 
plenteous  redemption.  Seeing  I  have  this  min- 
istry, as  I  have  received  mercy,  I  faint  not. 

"  Nearly  twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  I 
was  separated  to  preach  the  everlasting  gospel ; 
although  possessing  a  frail  constitution,  I  have 
enjoyed  an  uncommon  measure  of  health,  many 
opportunities  for  promoting  his  cause,  and  have 
experienced  seasons  of  enlargement  in  exhibit- 
ing the  Saviour,  too  precious  to  be  forgotten  in 
time  or  in  eternity.  The  pulpit  has  frequently 
been  to  me  as  the  suburbs  of  heaven,  and  I  have 
enjoyed  a  degree  of  delight  in  entreating  sin- 
ners to  be  reconciled  to  God  which  cannot  be 
described.  Among  all  the  mercies  received 
from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  esteem  this  as  the 
crown,  that  he  has  accounted  me  faithful,  put- 
ting me  into  the  ministry,  and  that  in  his  provi- 
dence he  has  opened  so  many  doors  for  useful- 
ness. It  is  condescension,  not  only  divinely 
rich,  but  distinguishing.  Even  so.  Father,  for  so 
it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight. 

"  It  is  now  my  desire  to  arise  from  this  bed  of 
affliction  with  renewed  resolutions  to  live  more 


152  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

entirely  for  the  Lord.  I  would  rejoice  in  the  re- 
covery of  my  health  chiefly,  yea,  only  as  it  af- 
fords a  prospect  of  doing  a  little  good  for  my 
family,  and  for  that  Church  which  the  Saviour 
purchased  with  his  own  blood.  '  To  me  hence- 
forth to  live,  may  it  be  Christ.'  I  do  consider 
the  advancement  of  his  glory  in  the  salvation  of 
souls  by  the  consecration  of  every  member  of 
my  body  and  power  of  my  mind,  and  by  the 
most  prudent  management  of  my  outward  es- 
tate, as  my  duty,  honour,  and  interest.  Now 
may  the  words  of  my  mouth  and  the  meditation 
of  my  heart  be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord, 
my  strength  and  my  Redeemer.     Amen." 

The  path  of  the  just  through  this  life,  while 
divinely  compared  to  that  of  the  growing  light 
of  the  morning,  is  still  often  darkened  by  the 
clouds  of  sorrow.  Many  of  the  preceding  ex- 
tracts attest  that  Dr.  Proudfit  was  favoured  with 
the  light  of  God's  countenance  in  an  eminent  de- 
gree ;  indeed,  they  all  breathe  the  spirit  of  adop- 
tion ;  but  it  would  have  been  strange  indeed  had 
it  been  all  sunshine  with  him  :  "  if  ye  are  with- 
out chastisement,  whereof  all  are  partakers,  then 
are  ye  bastards,  and  not  sons."  "  The  grievous 
dispensation"  spoken  of  in  a  subsequent*  extract 
would  appear,  from  the  frequent  references  to  it 
in  the  diary,  to  have  been  long  threatened  ;  re- 
peatedly did  he  set  apart  special  seasons  of  pray- 

*  See  p.  157. 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  153 

er  on  account  of  it,  nor  were  his  prayers  in 
vain. 

During  the  year  1813  the  Lord  v^as  pleased 
to  crown  the  labours  of  his  servant  with  a  spe- 
cial outpouring  of  his  Spirit.  The  only  refer- 
ence to  it  in  the  diary  is  under  date  of  July 
6,  1813.  "  This  morning  set  apart  one  hour  for 
prayer,  that  the  Lord  would  prosper  me  in  my 
studies  ;  especially  that  he  would  aid  me  in  fin- 
ishing the  volume  I  am  now  preparing  for  the 
press,  and  that  he  would  continue  and  increase 
that  attention  to  religion  which  appears  in  the 
congregation.^^  In  this  connexion,  we  may  in- 
troduce an  extract  of  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Sprague,  of  Albany,  in  which  Dr.  Proudfit  gives 
some  interesting  notices  of  the  revivals  in  his 
congregation,  together  with  his  views  on  the 
general  subject.  "  This  (1832)  is  the  thirty- 
eighth  year  of  my  ministerial  labours  in  Salem. 
We  have  uniformly  been  in  the  habit  of  dispen- 
sing the  ordinance  of  the  Supper  four  times  a 
year,  and,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  have  never 
had  a  sacramental  occasion  without  some  addi- 
tion to  our  members  ;  but  at  different  times  du- 
ring this  long  period  we  have  enjoyed  what 
would  now  be  pronounced  '  a  revival  of  religion.' 
The  refreshing  influences  of  Divine  grace  de- 
scended silently  and  softly  upon  the  heritage  of 
the  Lord,  like  the  showers  of  spring  after  the 
N  2 


154  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

dreariness  and  barrenness  of , winter.  One  of 
these  occasions  was  in  the  year  1796,  when  a 
very  unusual  influence  apparently  accompanied 
the  outward  dispensation  of  the  Word,  sealing 
it  upon  the  souls  of  both  saints  and  sinners.  A 
similar  occasion  occurred  about  six  years  after- 
ward, and  another  still  more  memorable  visita- 
tion of  the  Spirit  was  enjoyed  in  the  year  1815. 
During  all  these  seasons  of  enlargement  to  my- 
self, and  of  spiritual  joy  to  the  children  of  adop- 
tion, and  of '  the  espousals  of  others  to  Jesus  as 
their  husband,'  no  extra  efforts  were  used  ;  no 
brethren  from  other  towns  were  called  in  to  our 
aid  ;  but  the  work  advanced  silently  and  regular- 
ly, promoted  exclusively,  under  the  Divine  bless- 
ing, by  the  ordinary  ministration  of  ordinances, 
private  and  public.  Yet,  during  the  whole 
course  of  my  ministry,  I  have  never  been  fa- 
voured with  seasons  more  delightful  in  their  rec- 
ollection ;  none  the  results  of  which  shall  I  con- 
template with  more  joy  in  that  day  when  the 
final  account  of  my  stewardship  will  be  requi- 
red. Contemplated  in  a  moral  or  spiritual  light, 
the  work  on  these  occasions  might  be  compared 
to  that  gradual  yet  perceptible  reanimation  which 
pervades  the  vegetable  world  amid  the  vernal 
showers  and  the  refreshing  influences  of  the  re- 
turning sun,  when  the  face  of  nature  is  clothed 
with  fresh  verdure,  and  the  trees  which  had 


REV     DR.  PROUDFIT.  155 

stood  barren  are  adorned  with  blossoms  and  fruit. 
These  might  emphatically  be  called  '  times  of 
refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  ;'  and 
yet  I  know  of  no  particular  cause,  except  that  on 
the  last  occasion,  the  revival  of  the  Lord's  work 
appeared  to  come  as  an  answer  to  extraordinary 
importunity  in  prayer.  Few  churches  during 
this  period,  perhaps,  have  been  more  honoured 
for  raising  up  young  men  to  adorn  the  ministe- 
rial office — men  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of 
faith,  who  now  appear  as  burning  and  shining 
lights  in  various  parts  of  our  country.  On  one 
occasion,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  six  youth  took 
their  seats  together  at  the  sacramental  table  who 
are  now  exercising  the  ministry  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  some  of  them  with  more  than  ordinary 
success.  These  facts  I  feel  constrained  to  no- 
tice, for  the  purpose  of  correcting  that  novel  and 
prevailing  opinion  that  religion  cannot  flourish 
without  some  special  and  unusual  eflfort.  In 
1824,  a  revival  of  a  different  character  from 
those  already  mentioned  appeared.  Several 
persons  residing  in  different  parts  of  our  town 
were  suddenly  and  almost  simultaneously  struck 
with  deep  convictions  of  sin.  This  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  friends  of  religion  ;  meetings  for 
prayer  and  conference  were  held  almost  every 
day  in  the  week,  and  generally  crowded  to  over- 
flowing.    With  respect  to  the  fruits  of  these  re- 


156  MEAlUlK    OF    THE 

vivals,  I  have  almost  uniformly  remarkecl  that, 
where  the  subjects  had  been  early  and  com- 
petently instructed,  the  impressions  have  been 
permanent ;  those  of  this  character  who  assu- 
med the  profession  of  religion  have  been  ena- 
bled to  persevere  ;  but  in  other  instances  the  ex- 
citement has  too  often  been  transient  as  '  the 
morning  cloud  and  the  early  dew  ;'  the  latter 
class,  lite  those  in  the  parable  of  the  sower,  I 
have  frequently  seen  receive  the  Word  with  joy, 
but  not  having  root  in  themselves,  endui*ed  for 
a  while,  and  afterward  returned  to  the  world. 
From  these  facts,  founded  on  long  observation, 
I  have  been  particularly  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  early  instruction." 

The  volume  alluded  to  in  the  last  extract  from 
the  diary  is  designed,  ^s  the  author  states  in  the 
preface,  "  to  explain  and  enforce  those  means  by 
which  the  salvation  of  God  is  ordinarily  com- 
menced, and  carried  on,  and  completed  in  the 
souls  of  his  favoured  children,"  and,  like  most  of 
the  volumes  which  preceded  it,  it  is  dedicated 
*'  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontier  settlements." 
It  was  pubhshed  in  the  autumn  of  1813. 

Two  years  afterward,  Dr.  Proudfit  was  indu- 
ced to  prepare  a  new  and  uniform  edition  of  his 
writings.  It  was  published  during  the  year  1815, 
in  four  volumes ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  that 
he  was  then  but  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  min- 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  157 

istry ;  how  faithfully  he  performed  the  manifold 
duties  of  a  large  country  parish,  and  how  often 
he  was  absent  from  home  on  those  missionary 
tours  to  the  new  settlements  in  which  he  so 
greatly  delighted,  it  may  emphatically  be  said 
that  these  volumes  constitute  a  noble  monument 
to  his  diligence  and  devotedness  as  a  servant  of 
Christ.  The  work  of  republication,  like  all  his 
other  works,  was  begun  and  continued  in  prayer, 
as  the  following  extracts  from  the  diary  show  : 

"  January  I4t}u  1815.  Resolved  to  spend  this 
forenoon  in  the  duties  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer. 

"  1st.  In  lamenting  that,  although  my  oppor- 
tunities have  been  so  great,  I  have  done  so  little 
for  my  God  or  his  Church. 

"  2d.  In  imploring  the  Divine  blessing  on  my 
ministry,  and  particularly  on  that  new  edition  of 
my  works  which  is  now  in  the  press. 

"  3d.  In  committing  to  the  Lord's  manage- 
ment a  very  awful  and  perplexing  occurrence 
which  has  lately  taken  place  in  the  congrega- 
tion. 

''Saturday  evening,  May  ISth,  1815.  This 
afternoon  the  printer  has  finished  the  new  edi- 
tion of  my  works,  in  four  volumes.  I  desire, 
therefore,  to  employ  one  hour, 

"  In  setting  up  once  more  my  ebenezer,  and 
adoring  the  Divine  sovereignty  in  comtnwt- 
0 


158  MEMOIR   OF    THE 

ting  the  treasure  of  his  gospel  to  earthen  ves- 
sels, and  particularly  to  admire  and  adore  his 
condescension  in  honouring  me  who  am  the 
least  and  most  unworthy,  either  to  speak  or 
write  in  his  name. — Eph.,  iii.,  8.  I  now  commit 
these  discourses  to  the  sovereign,  absolute  dis- 
posal of  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  ;  may  he 
send  them  wherever  they  may  be  most  instru- 
mental in  promoting  the  honour  of  his  name 
whose  I  am,  and  the  salvation  of  souls  to  which 
I  desire  to  be  devoted. — Ps.  clxiii.,  69.  Luke, 
xii.,  6,  7.  Thou,  Spirit  of  life  and  of  power,  ac- 
cept this  humble  attempt  for  diffusing  the  savor 
of  the  name  of  Jesus  ;  all  that  is  wanting  in 
them,  graciously  supply,  and  whatever  has  been 
sinful  as  to  the  motive  or  execution,  graciously 
forgive.  If  I,  who  am  the  least  of  thy  servants, 
have  acted  presumptuously  in  undertaking  to 
write  on  these  mysteries,  which  are  beyond  the 
comprehension  of  angels,  thou  art  gracious  to 
pardon  this  presumption ;  if  I  have  sought  my 
own  glory  rather  than  the  glory  of  Jesus,  in  the 
riches  of  thy  grace  forgive  this  self-seeking,  al- 
though a  very  aggravated  impiety  ;  if  I  have 
failed  in  this  attempt  to  illustrate  these  interest- 
ing doctrines,  thou  canst  make  foolish  things  to 
confound  the  wise ;  if  I  am  chargeable  with  weak- 
ness in  unfolding  and  applying  these  truths  to  the 
understanding  and  the  heart,  thou  canst  make 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  159 

weak  things  to  confound  the  mighty,  that  God 
in  all  things  may  be  glorified  through  Jesus 
Christ,  to  whom  be  honour  and  dominion  forev- 
er.    Amen." 

To  this  republication  of  his  works  it  is  prob- 
able that  Dr.  Proudfit  was  led  in  consequence  of 
an  earnest  letter  upon  the  subject  from  his  ven- 
erable friend  and  theological  instructor,  the  late 
Dr.  Livingston,  who  thus  wrote  to  him  in  1813  : 

"  With  great  satisfaction  I  have  read  the  vol- 
ume of  sermons  which,  in  the  preface  you  inform 
us,  were  published  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  the  in- 
habitants upon  our  frontiers,  whom  you  repeat- 
edly visited  and  found  destitute  of  gospel  ordi- 
nances. It  is  a  work  excellently  calculated  to 
instruct  the  ignorant  in  the  principles  of  our  holy 
religion,  and  has  been,  no  doubt,  of  eminent  ser- 
vice to  the  people  for  whom,  in  the  first  instance, 
it  was  intended  ;  but  it  deserves  a  wider  circu- 
lation, and  as  the  book  has  become  scarce,  per- 
mit me  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  a  new  edi- 
tion. I  observe  you  have  selected  some  of  the 
principal  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  am  happy 
to  find  that  you  have  treated  each  of  them  with 
suflicient  perspicuity,  and  applied  them  with  zeal 
and  faithfulness.  It  would  have  been  improper 
in  popular  discourses  to  descend  to  minute  ex- 
planations, or  bring  forward  the  whole  class  of 
arguments  in  support  of  each  dogma  ;  and  it 


160  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

would  mar  the  work  to  enter  into  controversies, 
and  distract  the  common  reader  with  a  critical 
examination  of  terms  which  he  could  scarcely 
compi'chend,  or  with  laboured  answers  to  objec- 
tions, by  none  of  which,  perhaps,  he  had  ever 
been  disturbed.  A  correct  statement  of  the 
truth,  supported  by  the  decided  and  unequivo- 
cal authority  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  and  ex- 
pressed in  a  plain  and  familiar  style,  is  most  eli- 
gible, and  certainly  best  adapted  to  inform  the 
uninstructed,  direct  convinced  sinners,  and  edify 
believers.  This  plan  I  see  you  have  adopted, 
and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  my  cordial  ap- 
probation of  the  volume,  with  a  wish  that  simi- 
lar discourses  were  more  numerous,  and  dissem- 
inated throughout  the  land.  My  affection  for 
you,  which  has  increased  from  your  early  youth, 
and  my  expectation  that  your  sermons  will  be 
favourably  received,  and  prove  extensively  ben- 
eficial, prompt  me  to  mention  the  subject  of  a 
new  edition,  and,  I  am  sure,  will  supersede  the 
necessity  of  any  apology.  The  Divine  Redeem- 
er, our  precious  Lord  and  Master,  make  his  grace 
to  be  sufficient  for  you,  enlarge  your  sphere  of 
usefulness,  and  give  you  much  joy  and  peace  in 
believing  !  I  bless  you,  and  am  most  respectful- 
ly, dear  sir,  yours,  &c. 

"J.  H.  Livingston." 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  161 

Many  and  pleasing  were  the  testimonials 
which  Dr.  Proudfit  received  to  the  blessed  re- 
sults of  his  writings,  not  only  among  those  for 
whom  they  were  specially  intended,  but  in  many 
other  parts  of  the  land.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Church, 
of  Pelham,  New-Hampshire,  thus  writes  to  him ' 
in  1817:  "I  trust  you  will  excuse  the  freedom  of 
an  unknown  and  unworthy  brother  in  address- 
ing you  a  few  lines.  More  than  a  year  ago,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Haynes,  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  pre- 
sented me  with  a  volume  of  your  sermons  on  the 
Doctrines  of  the  Gospel.  With  these  sermons  I 
was  highly  gratified.  They  exhibit  the  doc- 
trines of  our  blessed  religion  in  that  view  which 
I  think  correspondent  with  the  teachings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Within  a  short  time  I  have  been 
so  highly  favoured  as  to  procure  the  four  vol- 
umes of  your  work.  It  will  be  saying  but  a  part 
of  what  I  feel,  to  say  that  I  esteem  them  a  very 
precious  treasure.  I  am  now  reading  the  first 
volume  with  great  delight,  and,  I  trust,  spiritual 
improvement.  I  am  highly  delighted  with  the 
view  which  you  give  of  appropriating  faith. 
Owing  to  my  situation  and  connexions,  and  the 
workings  of  a  legal  spirit,  I  was  for  some  time 
much  in  the  dark  respecting  this  vastly  impor- 
tant subject ;  but  I  could  not  find  peace  and 
satisfaction  until  I  had  been  taught,  as  I  hope, 
to  come  to  Christ  as  lost  and  undone,  helpless 
11  0  2 


162  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  vile,  and  receive  him  as  mij  Saviour,  a  Sav- 
iour provided  and  given  to  me  in  the  Gospel. 
I  now  find  it  much  more  easy  and  delightful 
preaching  the  Gospel,  to  address  my  fellow-sin- 
ners as  dead  in  sin  and  under  the  curse,  and 
calling  upon  them  to  look  to  Christ — to  come  to 
him,  guilty  and  wretched  as  they  are,  and  re- 
ceive him  as  God's  unspeakable  gift  to  them; 
and  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  more  of  the 
Divine  blessing  attends  my  poor  labours  in  the 
vineyard."  To  this  may  be  added  a  letter  from 
the  late  Rev.  John  Brown,  of  Whitburn,  Scot- 
land, eldest  son  of  the  eminent  Mr.  Brown  of 
Haddington ;  it  is  dated 

"  Edinburgh,  January  1st,  1818. 
"Rev.  and  dear  Brother, 
"  Your  kind  and  unexpected  gift  of  your  ser- 
mons was  received  last  year.  The  warm  and 
lively  way  in  which  you  express  Divine  truth 
pleases  me  much,  but  especially  the  able  exhibi- 
tion of  Gospel  grace  ;  they  are  such  sermons  as 
are  peculiarly  savory  to  me,  and  to  my  broth- 
er Ebenezer,*  and  to  my  sons  in  the  ministry, 
and  to  all  who  have  seen  them  and  have  the 
true  relish.  I  have  long  been  an  admirer  of 
what  we  in  Scotland  call  Marrow  doctrine,  as 
you  well  know  in  allusion  to  the  Marrow  of  Mod- 
ern Divinity ;  and  your  sermons,  being  fully  on 

*  The  late  Rev.  Ebenezer  Brown,  of  Inverkeithing. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  163 

this  plan,  are  most  delightful  to  us.  My  worthy 
friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Forrest  (of  Stamford,  Del- 
av^^are  county),  made  me  acquainted  with  your 
character,  and  sent  me  some  single  sermons.  I 
had  brought  the  sermon  on  '  The  Female  La- 
bourer' to  be  printed  in  Edinburgh,  but  it  was 
unhappily  lost :  there  are  many  eminently  use- 
ful ladies  in  Edinburgh  and  Leith,  and  I  hope 
we  will  get  this  done  again.*  Last  week  a 
worthy  friend,  a  bookseller,  Mr.  John  Thomp- 
son, wrote  me  that  he  had  got  one  of  your  vol- 
umes, and  that  he  had  a  wish  to  publish  the  four 
volumes  in  two ;  he  belongs  to  a  company  who 
are  ready  to  introduce  every  evangelical  book 
into  a  large  circulation  both  here  and  in  Lon- 
don. Under  the  favour  of  Providence,  another, 
a  third  edition  of  Hervey's  Life,  will  soon  be  put 
to  press  ;  I  shall  send  you  a  copy  when  publish- 
ed. All  grace  attend  you  and  family,  and  all 
success  in  your  labours  in  the  pulpit  and  the 
press.     Most  cordially  yours, 

"  J.  Brown." 

To  this  letter  Dr.  Proudfit  sent  the  following 
reply,  dated 

"  Salem,  26th  March,  1818. 
"My  very  dear  Brother, 
"  I  was  refreshed  last  week  by  the  receipt  of 

*  A  few  months  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  this  sermon  was 
republished  in  Edinburgh,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Leith  Female  So- 
ciety for  the  Relief  of  Aged  and  Indigent  Women, 


164  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

your  letter,  dated  1st  January,  1818,  and  feel 
constrained  to  apologize  for  neglecting  to  an- 
swer your  communication  of  1817,  sent  with  a 
valuable  collection  of  tracts.  The  same  pres- 
ent would  have  been  thankfully  received  from 
any  person,  but  its  value  was  much  enhanced 
as  coming  from  the  hands  of  a  descendant  of 
one  whose  memory  is  dear  to  me,  and  whose 
memory  will  be  embalmed  by  his  writings  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  works  of  your 
venerable  father  are  common  with  us  in  this  re- 
gion, and  are  highly  esteemed  by  those  who  rel- 
ish the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  I  consider  it  my 
own  honour  and  happiness  to  be  descended  from 
one  who  may  justly  be  ranked  among  the  fa- " 
thers  of  the  American  churches.  He  left  his 
kindred  and  native  country  in  the  meridian  of 
life,  to  preach  in  this  Western  world  the  Gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God.  The  act  of  the  Presbytery- 
appointing  him  to  the  American  churches  is  now 
before  me,  dated  Muckart,  July  2d,  1754.  The 
ministers  present  were.  Rev.  William  Moncrief, 
Alexander  Moncrief,  after  whom  I  have  the  hon- 
our of  being  named,  Thomas  Mair,  George 
Brown,  William  Mair,  John  Muckersie,  and  A. 
Blythe.  Mr.  Brown  delivered  the  ordination 
sermon  from  Gal.,  ii.,  15,  16.  I  have  been  thus 
minute,  supposing  it  would  be  some  gratifica- 
tion to  you  to  hear  of  a  transaction  which  took 


REV.   Dll.  TROUDFIT.  165 

place  in  your  own  country  nearly  seventy  years 
ago.  After  a  life  of  laborious  and  disinterested 
services  during  almost  fifty  years,  he  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus,  October  22d,  1802.  I  have  no  doubt 
his  prayers  have  descended  in  showers  of  bless- 
ings, both  temporal  and  spiritual,  upon  me  and 
mine.  '  But  our  fathers,  where  are  they  V  Yet 
how  consoling  is  the  reflection,  that  although 
they  die,  Jesus  Jehovah  still  lives — lives  as  the 
Head  over  all  things  to  his  Church — lives  as  the 
light  and  life,  the  joy,  and  portion,  and  glory  of 
all  who  confide  in  his  fulness  and  faithfulness. 

"  I  was  particularly  refreshed  in  hearing  that 
my  sermons  have  proved  so  very  acceptable  to 
yourself  and  other  friends  of  religion  in  that 
quarter  of  the  world.  I  cannot  express  my  ob- 
ligations of  gratitude  to  that  infinitely  conde- 
scending Jesus  who  aided  me  in  preparing  them 
for  the  press,  and  who  has  rendered  them  an 
acceptable  offering  to  his  dear  people.  It  is  all 
of  grace — of  free,  sovereign,  exceedingly  abound- 
ing grace,  that  to  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least 
of  all  saints,  is  given  the  honour  of  publishing 
from  the  pulpit  or  the  press  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ.  It  was  very  gratifying  to  learn 
from,  your  letter  the  design  of  reprinting  the  four 
volumes  in  Scotland.  I  received  a  communi- 
cation from  Mr.. Thompson  on  that  subject, and 
have  complied  with  his  request  in  forwarding 


166  MEMOIR   OF    TUB 

some  discourses  not  included  in  tlie  former  edi- 
tion. The  volumes  have  had  an  extensive  cir- 
culation in  this  country,  and  it  would  be  particu- 
larly gratifying  to  have  them  now  circulated  in 
the  land  of  my  fathers ;  a  land  distinguished 
above  all  others  for  the  long  reign  of  that  king- 
dom which  is  righteousness  and  peace,  and  from 
which,  as  from  a  centre,  the  Gospel  is  now  shed- 
ding its  radiance  upon  different  and  distant  na- 
tions. I  have  often  intended  crossing  the  ocean, 
on  purpose  to  become  acquainted  with  my  dear 
fellow-labourers  in  Scotland,  England,  and  Ire- 
land, but  various  avocations  have  hitherto  hin- 
dered the  execution  of  this  design.  The  present 
world  I  wish  to  consider  as  the  place  of  exer- 
tion, and  not  of  ease  or  enjoyment ;  and  if  we 
only  occupy  with  fidelity  our  talents  in  the  re- 
spective sections  of  the  Church  to  which  our 
Master  has  assigned  us,  we  shall  soon  meet  in 
the  world  where  there  is  neither  separation,  nor 
sin,  nor  sorrow;  meet  with  the  redeemed,  not  of 
a  single  country  or  age,  but  of  all  countries  and 
all  ages.  There  rur  fellowship  will  be  infinite- 
ly more  pure,  and  our  pleasures  more  elevated 
than  in  the  present  imperfect  state.  Remember 
me  to  the  dear  fellow-labourers  in  that  part  of 
the  vineyard  whom  I  have  never  seen,  and  prob- 
ably never  will  see  in  the  flesh.  Although  ab- 
sent in  body,  let  us  hereafter,  as  present  in  spirit, 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  167 

remember  each  other  at  the  throne  of  our  com- 
mon Father.  That  mercy,  grace,  and  peace 
from  the  fountain  of  blessmg  may  be  multipHed 
upon  you  and  yours,  is  the  prayer  of  your  broth- 
er in  the  faith  of  Jesus,  and  co-worker  in  the  ser- 
vice of  his  Gospel, 

"A.  Proudfit." 
"Rev.  John  Brown,  Whitburn,  Scotland." 

The  feehngs  awakened  in  Dr.  Proudfit's  mind 
by  these  various  testimonials  to  the  usefulness 
of  his  writings  are  thus  expressed  in  his  diary, 
under  date  of 

"  March,  1 9th,  1818.  This  morning  set  apart 
one  hour  for  thanksgiving,  prayer,  and  praise : 

"  1st.  For  all  those  blessings,  both  common 
and  special,  which  crown  my  condition  in  the 
various  relations  of  life.  Bless  the  Lord,  O  my 
soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits.  With  thee. 
Eternal  God,  is  the  fountain  of  life,  light,  joy,  of 
every  blessing,  temporal  or  spiritual,  in  time  and 
in  eternity. 

"2d.  Especially  I  desire  to  bless  the  Lord 
this  morning  for  that  degree  of  approbation 
with  which  my  sermons  have  been  received  by 
the  friends  of  truth  in  our  own  country,  and  also 
in  foreign  countries,  as  expressed  by  letters  re- 
cently received  from  various  parts  of  New-Eng- 
land, and  yesterday  from  Edinburgh,  Scotland. 

"  Oh,  what  a  monument  of  Divine  goodness, 


168  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  forbearance,  and  condescension  I  am !  and 
what  a  display  of  sovereign  grace  it  is,  that  the 
treasure  should  at  all  be  communicated  to  earth- 
en vessels,  and  particularly  that  it  should  be  im- 
parted to  me,  who  am  truly  more  insignificant 
and  undeserving  than  any  other  !  I  might  have 
been  a  vessel  of  wrath  in  both  worlds,  despised 
in  this,  and  lost  in  the  next ;  but  instead  of  this, 
I  am,  I  trust,  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  the  Sav- 
iour's name  to  perishing  sinners  !  What  shall  I 
render  to  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits  ?  I  would 
this  morning  make  a  new  surrender  of  my  all  to 
the  Redeemer  and  his  serv^icc.  I  desire  from  this 
time  to  love  him  supremely,  walk  with  him  more 
intimately,  and  live  for  him  more  exclusively. 
Now,  thou  precious  Lord  Jesus,  who  hast  shown 
infinite  condescension  in  calling  me  to  the  min- 
istry, and  supporting  me  so  far  in  the  important 
trust,  accept  of  me  as  thine  own,  qualify  me 
more  abundantly  with  the  gifts  of  wisdom  and 
zeal  for  thy  holy  service,  give  efficacy  to  my 
imperfect  writings  wherever  they  have  been  cir- 
culated or  may  be  circulated,  and  make  them 
subservient  for  advancing  the  honour  of  thy 
name  and  the  edification  of  thy  Church." 

The  extracts  from  the  diary  already  given 
show  what  was  Dr.  Proudfit's  manner  of  life  at 
home ;  we  shall  now  give  some  passages  illus- 
trative of  the  frame  of  mind  which  he  aimed  to 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  169 

maintain  when  called  to  go  abroad.  In  the 
bosom  of  his  own  family,  the  retirement  of 
his  study,  and  on  his  frequent  journeyings,  he 
endeavoured  to  walk  with  God.  Wherever  he 
was,  he  kept  up  the  habit  of  prayer  and  medi- 
tation ;  no  one  could  be  in  his  company,  in  any 
place,  at  home  or  abroad,  without  soon  learn- 
ing that  he  was  a  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

'^  Alhaiiy,  April  4:th,  1818.  Am  unexpected- 
ly called  to  spend  the  Sabbath  in  this  city,  and 
assist  Mr.  S ,  who  is  indisposed,  in  dispen- 
sing the  memorial  of  the  dying  love  of  Jesus  ; 
have  found  consolation  from  that  gracious  as- 
surance of  my  Master,  '  Lo  !  I  am  with  you 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.'  Oh  my  soul, 
how  animating  is  the  consideration  that  I  serve 
an  ever-present,  ever-living,  and  ever-loving 
Master;  one  whose  eyes  are  always  upon  the 
righteous ;  one  who,  at  home  or  abroad,  in  the 
week  or  on  the  Sabbath,  will  be  found  of  them 
that  seek  him  !  I  desire,  therefore,  to  set  apart 
one  hour  for  devout  meditation  and  prayer,  for 
solemnly  returning  to  him  as  my  portion  and 
glory.  I  often  experience  that,  by  much  conver- 
sation with  men,  more  especially  with  the  men 
of  the  world,  my  heart  becomes  insensibly  es- 
tranged from  the  living  God.  I  find  it  more 
profitable  to  be  frequently  alone,  retired  both 
from  the  persons  and  pursuits  of  this  world,  and 
P 


170  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

to  commune  more  intimately  with  the  Father  of 
Spirits,  from  whom  I  derived  my  all,  and  to 
whom  I  owe  my  all ;  whose  favour  is  life,  and 
the  assurance  of  whose  love  is  more  refreshing,  a 
thousand  fold,  than  all  created  enjoyments.  Re- 
turn to  him  as  thy  rest  this  morning,  my  soul, 
and  aim  at  conversing  more  frequently  and  fa- 
miliarly with  him.  The  Lord  is  the  strength 
of  my  heart,  and  my  portion  forever.  To  his 
fatherly  protection  I  now  commit  my  dear  fam- 
ily, who  are  scattered,  some  of  them  upon  the 
land,  and  others  on  the  waters.  Although  remote 
from  me,  they  are  nigh  to  him  who  is  the  con- 
fidence of  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  of  those 
who  are  afar  off  upon  the  sea.  There  is  not  a 
part  of  his  dominions  where  his  eye  is  not  pres- 
ent, seeing  all  who  rest  on  his  love ;  he  can  ac- 
complish his  will  without  my  weak  instrumen- 
tality, and  in  this  consideration  my  heart  rejoi- 
ces. 

"  September  5th,  1818.     Sharon,  Connecticut. 
Reached  this  place  last  evening,  and  lodged  in 

the  family  of  Mr.  S ;  there  met  with  Mr. 

L ,  a  dear  friend  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  found  all 

the  connexions  singularly  hospitable  and  kind, 
and  enjoyed  much  pleasant  conversation.  Hav- 
ing parted  with  them  in  the  morning,  began  to 
reflect  that  perhaps  we  might  never  meet  again 
on  earth,  and  felt  pungent  sorrow  that  our  con- 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  171 

versation  had  not  been  more  practical  and  exper- 
imental. Oh,  how  much  precious  time  is  lost  in 
our  occasional  interviews  by  the  indulgence  of 
discourse  which  is  not  profitable  for  the  use  of 
edifying  !  How  much  might  be  done  for  provo- 
king one  another  to  love  and  good  works,  for 
cherishing  the  gifts  and  graces  of  each  other, 
was  our  conversation  more  uniformly  seasoned 
with  salt !  How  instrumental  might  we  thus 
become  in  stimulating  each  other  when  slothful, 
in  animating  each  other  when  desponding,  in 
strengthening  each  other  when  weak,  and  in  rous- 
ing each  other  to  greater  vigilance  when  ready 
to  slumber  and  sleep.  Then  our  intercourse  on 
earth  would  be  a  lively  semblance,  a  delightful 
foretaste  of  that  intimate  and  uninterrupted  fel- 
lowship which  maybe  expected  in  our  Father's 
kingdom. 

"  Cornwall^  Connecticut^  Septemher  Qth,  1818. 
Sabbath  afternoon.  Met  last  evening  and  this 
morning  with  the  young  heathen  who  are  col- 
lected here  from  various  parts  of  the  world  to 
receive  a  religious  education,  and  found  much 
comfort  and  enlargement  in  addressing  them. 
In  looking  at  them  and  conversing  with  them, 
felt  an  unutterable  longing  over  them  in  the 
bowels  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  a  solici- 
tude to  become  instrumental  in  their  conver- 
sion.    Saw  three  of  them  publicly  renounce  the 


172  MExMOlR    OF    THE 

idolatry  of  their  native  countries,  and  assisted 
in  initiating  them  into  the  Christian  Church  by 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  ;  afterward  sat  down 
and  participated  with  them  in  receiving  the 
symbols  of  that  crucified  Jesus  whom  all  na- 
tions shall  call  blessed  ;  felt  much  impressed 
at  the  scene,  and  viewed  it  as  a  partial  accom- 
plishment of  the  promise  that  *  Ethiopia  shall 
stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God,'  and  the  sons  of 
Messiah,  by  adopting  grace,  shall  come  from  far. 
Oh !  had  I  the  wings  of  an  angel,  and  his  elo- 
quence, how  rapturously  would  I  fly  from  re- 
gion to  region,  and  proclaim  to  benighted  man 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ ;  announcing 
those  tidings  of  great  joy  which  are  designed 
for  all  people,  that  unto  them  a  Saviour  is  born, 
even  Christ  the  Lord  ! 

"  Goshen,  Connecticut,  September  ISth,  1818. 
Sabbath  evening.  Preached  through  the  day  in 
the  church  usually  occupied  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 

H y,  and  in  the  evening  held  a  meeting  for 

social  prayer  and  conference ;  found  a  number 
of  the  assembly,  both  male  and  female,  much  ex- 
ercised to  godliness,  and  enjoyed  much  comfort 
in  their  society.     In  the  evening  met  with  a  short 

narrative  of  the  life  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  H ,  who 

had  preceded  Mr.  H y  as  pastor  of  that 

church,  and  felt  both  edified  and  animated  in 
reading  the  account  of  his  abundant  labours  and 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  173 

triumphant  death.  From  the  mcrease  of  bodily 
infirmities,  especially  by  the  increasing  weak- 
ness in  my  breast,  feel  admonished  of  my  ap- 
proaching dissolution,  and  that  my  great  busi- 
ness is  now  to  prepare  for  death ;  was  deeply 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of  setting  my  heart 
and  house  in  order,  and  standing  in  constant 
readiness  for  my  departure  from  this  world  and 
all  its  concerns.  In  taking  farewell  of  the  pre- 
cious followers  of  Jesus  in  Goshen,  was  con- 
strained to  adore  my  Master  that  he  is  afford- 
ing me  these  opportunities  of  enlarging  my  ac- 
quaintance with  the  spiritual  family,  and  meet- 
ing with  those  on  earth  with  whom  I  wish  to 
spend  an  eternity  in  heaven." 

In  the  private  record  of  this  part  of  Dr.  Proud- 
fit's  life  there  are  repeated  references  to  a  very 
heavy  affliction.  No  intimation  is  given  as  to 
its  nature ;  but  it  was  the  occasion  of  his  setting 
apart  many  seasons  for  humiliation  before  God, 
and  prayer  for  deliverance.  His  feelings  under 
the  dispensation  are  thus  expressed  under  date  of 

^^June  30th,  1 820.  I  desire  to  acknowledge  be- 
fore God,  and  to  confess  that  sin  which  is  the  pro- 
curing cause  of  all  my  troubles  ;  particularly,  1. 
I  desire  to  confess  my  pride,  my  self-confidence, 
my  self-sufficiency,  my  earthly-mindedness,  my 
dependance  on  the  creature  more  than  the  Cre- 
ator. The  Lord  is  just  in  all  the  judgments 
P  2 


174  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

which  he  is  inflicting  on  me  ;  yea,  he  is  punish- 
ing me  infinitely  less  than  my  iniquities  deserve. 
Oh,  thou  Holy  One  of  Israel,  my  soul  this  morn- 
ing bows  before  thee  with  humiliating  thoughts 
of  its  own  vileness  on  account  of  sin  !  *  If  thou, 
Lord,  shouldst  mark  iniquity,  I  could  not  stand/ 
'O  Lord,  to  me  belongeth  confusion  of  face,' 
because  I  have  sinned  against  thee. 

"  2.  I  desire  to  commit  the  matter,  with  all  its 
circumstances,  to  the  management  of  my  God 
and  Father  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  knows 
what  is  most  for  his  own  glory — what  issue  in 
this  visitation  will  be  most  conducive  to  the  ed- 
ification of  his  Church,  and  to  my  own  spiritual 
interests  and  rejoicing  through  eternity,  there- 
fore I  desire  implicitly  to  commit  it  to  his  most 
holy,  wise  and  merciful  management.  Ps.,  Ivii., 
2  ;  1.,  15.  I  am  ignorant  of  my  own  true  inter- 
ests, and  therefore,  in  submission  to  a  sovereign 
God,  I  would  say, '  Not  my  will,  but  thine  be 
done.' 

"  3.  That  the  Lord  would  lead  me  to  a  suitable 
frame  under  this  dispensation,  and  that  it  may 
be  rendered  subservient  to  my  humility,  my 
self-denial,  and  future  usefulness  in  his  Church.'' 

The  issue  of  this  trial  is  thus  described  in  a 
subsequent  part  of  the  diary.  "  This  dispensa- 
tion, which  like  a  cloud  had  been  hanging  over 
us   for    some    months,   portentous   and   awful, 


REV.  DR.  PROUDF[T.  175 

threatening  to  burst  forth  to  our  destruction,  was 
suddenly,  and  in  a  manner  almost  miraculous, 
dissipated,  to  the  astonishment  of  all,  tending 
much  to  the  confirmation  of  the  faith  of  God's 
children.  It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  is  wondrous 
in  our  eyes.  Thou,  Lord,  art  good,  and  ready  to 
forgive.  They  that  know  thy  name  will  put  their 
trust  in  thee.  This  season  of  affliction  was  speed- 
ily followed  by  a  season  of  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord ;  the  word  preached  was 
accompanied  with  unusual  power  in  the  conver- 
sion of  sinners,  especially  of  youth ;  and  at  our 
sacrament  in  March,  among  others,  six  young 
men  united  with  the  Church  who  afterward  en- 
tered the  ministry.  This  fact  I  wrote  down  for 
my  own  encouragement  in  future  trials.  '  Weep- 
ing may  endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in 
the  morning.'" 

Amid  his  personal  trials,  as  might  be  inferred 
from  the  views  thus  expressed,  he  was  not  un- 
mindful of  the  interests  of  religion.  The  diary 
of  these  years  contains  repeated  records  of 
agreement  with  members  of  his  own  congrega- 
tion, and  with  brethren  of  other  denominations,  to 
set  apart  special  seasons  of  prayer  for  the  abun- 
dant outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Neither 
was  he  unmindful  of  those  individual  members 
of  his  flock  who  stood  in  need  of  his  pastoral 
counsels  and  prayers,  as  the  following  passage 
from  the  diary  will  show : 


176  MEMOIR    or    THE 

"  April  20th.  Set  apart  one  hour  this  morn- 
ing in  special  prayer  for  a  young  man  in  whom 
I  feel  particularly  interested,  and  who  is  in  dan- 
ger of  being  seduced  from  the  paths  of  virtue. 

"1.  As  he  is  the  son  of  pious  parents,  I  would 
plead  the  gracious  promises,  Deut.,  xxx.,  6.  Isa., 
xHv.,  3;  lix.,  21. 

"  2.  I  would  desire  to  look  to  the  Lord  by 
earnest  prayer,  that  he  would  direct  me  how  to 
deal  with  him,  by  cautions  and  exhortations. 

"  3.  That  he  would  display  his  infinite  power 
and  condescension  in  giving  efficacy  to  any 
means  which  I  employ  for  reclaiming  him.  No- 
thing is  too  hard  for  Omnipotence  to  effect,  and 
nothing  is  too  great  for  unbounded  goodness  to 
communicate.  He  who  reclaimed  a  Manasseh, 
a  Saul,  a  thief  on  the  cross,  a  Gardiner,  and  a 
Newton,  can  with  infinite  ease  reclaim  him. 

''April  22d,  1820.  Set  apart  one  hour  to 
present  before  the  Lord,  by  suppHcation,  the  ob- 
jects mentioned  in  the  morning  of  Saturday; 
and  also  that  the  God  of  all  comfort  would  give 
light  and  joy  to  a  female  member  of  the  congre- 
gation who  has  been  long  in  spiritual  darkness." 

The  young  man  referred  to  in  the  first  of  these 
extracts  was  afterward  reclaimed,  and  became 
a  hopeful  monument  of  the  grace  of  God. 

A  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel  at 
home   and   abroad,  like    that  of  Dr.  Proudfit, 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  177 

could  not  exist  without  a  corresponding  zeal  for 
the  increase  of  faithful  and  devoted  labourers  in 
the  Gospel.  This  was  manifested  by  him,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  during  the  whole  of  his 
ministry,  and  in  various  ways  ;  few  pastors  have 
had  the  happiness  to  see  so  many  of  the  youth 
of  their  churches  devoting  themselves  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  and  few  have  aided  so 
large  a  number  to  obtain  an  education  with  a 
view  to  that  office.  During  his  ministry,  the 
church  of  Salem  sent  forth  from  her  youthful 
membership  between  thirty  and  forty  preach- 
ers of  the  Gospel,  the  greater  part  of  whom 
were  baptized  by  Dr.  Proudfit. 

It  was,  perhaps,  owing  to  this  circumstance 
that,  about  the  year  1819,  the  plan  was  formed 
of  establishing  a  Theological  Seminary  at  Salem, 
in  connexion  with  the  Washington  County  Acad- 
emy, and  to  be  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Proudfit. 
From  the  diary  of  that  period,  it  would  appear 
that  the  promise  of  considerable  funds  had  been 
obtained,  and  all  the  preliminary  arrangements 
made.     Thus,  under  date  of 

^^  July  I3th,  1819.  This  morning  set  apart 
one  hour  to  lay  before  the  Lord  the  plan  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  which  is  now  resolved 
upon  in  this  place.  As  this  institution  is  design- 
ed to  furnish  labourers  for  the  spiritual  harvest, 
and  more  particularly  for  the  frontier  settlements, 
I  desire  to  take  encouragement.  Again, 
12 


178  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

''July  18th,  1819.  Agreed  to  set  apart  one 
hour  with  some  Christian  friends  this  evening, 
to  lay  before  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  the 
Theological  Seminary  which  is  to  be  establish- 
ed in  this  place." 

This  project,  however,  was  never  carried  into 
effect,  in  consequence  of  the  election  of  Dr. 
Proudfit  by  the  General  Synod,  in  1820,  as  an 
associate  of  Dr.  Mason  in  the  conduct  of  the 
Seminary  at  New- York.  Had  this  arrangement 
been  made  at  the  commencement  of  that  insti- 
tution— as  some  of  the  leading  and  most  judi- 
cious members  of  the  Church  in  New- York  wish- 
ed— the  result  would,  humanly  speaking,  have 
been  most  happy.  But,  unfortunately.  Dr.  Ma- 
son had  a  different  scheme  of  his  own,  which, 
though  never  realized,  effectually  interfered  with 
the  proposed  removal  of  Dr.  Proudfit  to  New- 
York.  Had  these  two  early  friends  been  asso- 
ciated in  the  conduct  of  the  Seminary  from  its 
beginning,  there  are  strong  reasons  for  believ- 
ing that  the  whole  complexion  of  its  history 
would  have  been  changed. 

Splendid  as  were  the  talents  and  attainments 
of  Dr.  Mason,  and  admirably  fitted  as  he  was, 
on  many  accounts,  for  the  work  of  theological 
instruction,  there  were  some  qualifications  which 
he  did  not  possess  ;  and,  among  all  the  ministers 
of  the  Church  at  the  time  of  the  organization  of 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  179 

the  Seminary,  none  was  better  entitled  to  be  as- 
sociated with  him  than  Dr.  Proudfit.  He  had 
enjoyed  the  best  educational  advantages  which 
the  country  then  afforded.  During  his  early  years 
he  was  a  close  student,  and  in  all  that  belonged 
to  the  important  branch  of  pastoral  theology 
he  was  admirably  fitted  to  give  instruction  to 
candidates  for  the  ministry.  This  was  the  very 
department  in  which  the  New- York  Seminary 
was  always  and  greatly  deficient.  In  saying 
this,  we  of  course  do  not  mean  in  the  least  to 
detract  from  the  high  reputation  of  Dr.  Mason 
as  a  theological  instructor ;  on  the  contrary, 
we  believe  that  the  system  of  study  formed  by 
him,  and  carried  out  in  the  old  Seminary  at  New- 
York,  so  far  as  circumstances  would  permit,  is 
decidedly  superior  to  that  of  any  other  similar  in- 
stitution in  our  country.  As  a  teacher  in  the 
two  important  departments  of  Biblical  exposition 
and  systematic  divinity.  Dr.  Mason  was  unsur- 
passed, if  he  was  not  unrivalled ;  but  no  man 
can  excel  in  everything.  And  we  are  therefore 
thoroughly  convinced  that,  if  these  brethren 
had  been  associated,  while  yet  "  the  dew  of  their 
youth"  was  upon  them,  in  the  work  of  theo- 
logical instruction,  the  character  of  both  would 
have  been  rendered,  by  their  mutual  influence, 
more  complete,  the  Seminary  would  have  been 
placed  upon  a  permanent  basis,  and  the  interests 


180  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

of  the  Church  at  large  would  have  been  greatly 
promoted. 

But  in  the  wise  and  holy  ordering  of  Divine 
Providence,  it  was  not  so  to  be.  The  result 
was  not,  indeed,  an  absolute  suspension  of  that 
affectionate  friendship  which  breathes  in  the 
early  letters  of  Dr.  Mason,  but  there  was  not 
the  cordiality  which  had  formerly  existed.* 
Dr.  Proudfit  exerted  himself  to  procure  funds 
for  the  Seminary;  but  for  a  number  of  years  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  had  his  full  confidence, 
and  he  certainly  did  not  manifest  that  active  in- 
terest in  it  which  might  have  been  expected 
from  him,  considering  the  warmth  of  his  zeal  for 
all  institutions  whose  object  was  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel.  His  reasons  for  this  course  had 
been  removed  before  his  election  in  1819;  but 
by  this  time  the  Seminary  itself  was  in  a  dying 
condition  ;  and  while  Dr.  Proudfit  evidently  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  called,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  the  professor- 
ship, the  propriety  of  his  acceptance  of  the  ap- 
pointment was  doubted  by  some  of  his  old  and 
warmest  friends.     Although  chosen  to  be  asso- 

*  We  mention  this  circumstance,  because  we  think  it  is  the  of- 
fice of  biography  to  paint  human  life,  not  as  it  should  be,  but  as  it 
is ;  to  give  its  shades  as  well  as  lights.  In  the  present  world,  im- 
perfection attaches  even  to  sanctified  friendship ;  and  the  instances 
are  comparatively  few  in  which  the  attachments  of  youth  con- 
tinue unabated  even  to  old  age. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  ISl 

date  professor  with  Dr.  Mason,  he  had  every 
reason  to  expect,  from  the  state  of  Dr.  Mason's 
health,  that  the  whole  burden  of  carrying  on 
the  work  of  instruction  would  devolve  upon 
himself.  The  election  took  place  in  June,  the 
session  commenced  in  November,  so  that  he  had 
but  little  time  to  prepare  for  the  arduous  task ; 
then  he  was  away  from  the  cheering  influences 
of  his  family  and  congregation,  and  the  very 
abundance  of  his  past  labours,  his  active  inter- 
est in  every  benevolent  institution,  could  hardly 
"have  failed  to  exert  such  an  influence  upon  his 
habits  of  study  as  to  unfit  him,  at  his  time  of 
life,  for  such  a  theological  chair  as  that  which 
he  had  been  called  to  fill.  The  result  showed 
that  it  was  in  quite  a  different  department,  though 
an  equally  honourable  one,  that  his  Divine  Mas- 
ter intended  to  employ  him.  His  connexion 
with  the  Seminary  continued  but  for  one  session, 
during  which  time  he  was  sorely  tried  by  bod- 
ily sickness,  and  by  unkind  treatment  from  some 
whom  he  had  greatly  aided  in  their  preparation 
for  the  ministry,  and  from  others  of  whom  bet- 
ter things  might  have  been  expected.  He  re- 
fers to  these  things  in  his  diary : 

''Salem,  May  9th,  1821.  The  Lord  has  been 
trying  me,  for  months  past,  with  a  variety  of  hu- 
miliating providences ;  with  afl^liction  in  body ; 
reproach  from  some  of  my  brethren,  who  have 

Q 


182  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

attempted  to  lessen  my  influence  in  the  Church  ; 
with  gross  ingratitude  from  some  students  whom 
I  have  assisted  both  by  advice  and  property ;  and 
with  embarrassment  in  my  pecuniary  affairs ;  and 
therefore  I  set  apart  one  hour  this  morning  for 
special  prayer  and  meditation ;  and, 

"  1st.  I  desire  to  consider  all  these  trials  as 
coming  from  God,  whatever  may  be  the  instru- 
mentality of  man  in  bringing  them  on,  and  I 
would  therefore,  by  humiliation  and  repentance, 
'  turn  to  the  hand  that  smiteth.' 

"  2d.  I  acknowledge  that  the  Lord  is  just  in 
sending  them,  and  that  they  are  infinitely  less  than 
I  deserve.  I  believe  that  he  is  not  only  just^  but 
gracious,  in  visiting  me  with  these  trials.  Many 
smiles  of  his  providence  I  have  enjoyed,  and  I 
believe  that  these  afflictions  are  sent  to  wean 
me  from  the  world,  and  I  trust  they  have  been 
sanctified  for  that  purpose.  The  things  of  time 
never  appeared  so  insipid,  yea,  so  loathsome  and 
abominable,  as  under  this  series  of  aflJlictions. 
I  desire  to  commit  them  all  to  my  God  in  cov- 
enant, to  be  overruled  for  his  glory  and  my 
greater  usefulness  in  his  Church.  Oh,  how  great 
is  his  condescension  in  the  invitation,  *  Cast  thy 
burden  upon  the  Lord  !'  What  a  worm  of  the 
dust — what  a  vile,  ungrateful,  hell-deserving  sin- 
ner I  have  been  !  and  yet  the  •  High  and  Lofty 
One  that  inhabiteth  eternity'  is  saying  to  me, 


REV.  DE.  PROUDFIT.  183 

*  Cast  thy  burden  on  me ;  I  will  sustain  thee.' 
I  read  over  the  account  of  a  few  loaves  and 
fishes  feeding  such  a  multitude,  related  in  Matt., 
xiv.,  16-21,  and  then  inferred  with  what  ease 
he  can  supply  all  my  wants.  Also  read  Matt., 
chapters  viii.  and  xiv.,  the  difficulties  in  which 
the  disciples  were  involved,  how  seasonably  the 
compassionate  Saviour  interposed,  disappointing 
their  fears,  and  rendering  the  dispensation  sub- 
servient to  the  confirmation  of  their  faith. 

"  May  lOth.  Spent  one  hour  in  laying  before 
the  Lord  the  same  subjects  as  yesterday  morn- 
ing." 

While  the  sources  of  his  trials  are  thus  briefly 
mentioned,  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  existence 
of  unkind  feelings,  on  his  part,  towards  the  au- 
thors of  them ;  on  the  contrary,  he  seems  to  have 
laboured,  at  least,  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
words,  "  they  are  the  sword,  the  hand  is  thine." 

It  may  be  added  that  Dr.  Proudfit  himself  ap- 
pears to  have  been  brought  to  the  conclusion 
before  stated,  that  his  destined  field  of  labour 
was  to  be,  as  it  had  been  for  so  many  years,  in 
the  sphere  of  active  exertion  rather  than  the 
more  retired  sphere  of  theological  instruction ; 
and,  accordingly,  the  scheme  of  erecting  a  Sem- 
inary at  Salem,  which  had  been  so  far  matured 
as  to  be  on  the  eve  of  being  carried  into  eflfect, 
was  abandoned ;  there  is,  at  least,  no  more  ref- 


184  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

erence  to  it  in  the  diary.  The  ensuing  sum- 
mer of  1821  was  one  of  very  severe  affliction ; 
his  health  was  greatly  shattered,  and  serious  ap- 
prehensions were  felt  that  his  day  of  labour 
was  drawing  to  a  close.  His  recovery  was 
slow  ;  for  many  months  he  was  unable  for  the 
discharge  of  any  of  his  pastoral  duties  ;  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  there  was  mercy  in  the 
dispensation.  The  Lord  had  much  for  him  still 
to  do ;  in  fact,  some  of  the  most  important  labours 
of  his  life  were  yet  before  him  ;  and  we  have 
reason  to  believe  that  this  long  season  of  bodily 
and  mental  suffering  was  appointed  by  his  Di- 
vine Master  as  a  means  of  preparing  him  for 
the  work  in  which  he  was  to  be  engaged  during 
the  latter  years  of  his  life. 

Occupied  as  Dr.  Proudfit  was  with  the  cares 
of  the  Seminary  during  his  residence  in  New- 
York,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  the  claims  of  his 
people  and  of  his  family.  Among  the  several 
pastoral  letters  which  he  addressed  to  the  for- 
mer, and  which  were  all  read  from  the  pulpit, 
the  following  well  deserve  a  place  in  this  record 
of  his  life,  the  one  to  the  youth,  and  the  other  to 
the  congregation  at  large. 

"  New- York,  November  22d,  1820. 

"  To  the  youth  of  that  congregation  over 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  me  overseer, 
mercy  and  peace  be  multiplied. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  185 

"  My  dear  young  friends,  I  have  this  day 
finished  and  forwarded  a  letter  to  the  congre- 
gation at  large,  but  he  who  hath  given  me  the 
charge  of  souls,  and  to  whom  the  account  of  my 
stewardship  must  shortly  be  rendered,  hath  par- 
ticularly enjoined, /eec?  my  lambs  ;  forget  not  the 
rising  generation  ;  and  although  I  acknowledge 
that  1  have  not  studied,  nor  prayed,  nor  preached, 
nor  watched,  nor  fasted,  nor  visited  from  house 
to  house,  nor  catechised  from  district  to  district, 
or  through  the  town,  as  I  might  or  ought  to 
have  done,  for  precious  immortals  committed  to 
me,  an  insignificant  under-shepherd,  by  the  Great 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls,  yet  your  own  con- 
sciences will  readily  bear  testimony  that  your 
eternal  interests  have  not  altogether  been  neg- 
lected on  my  part.  Should  one  or  two,  or  ten 
of  you  perish  in  your  impenitence,  you  cannot, 
in  that  hour  when  God  will  judge  you  individ- 
ually, nor  in  that  day  when  he  shall  judge  the 
world,  charge  your  damnation  either  to  my  in- 
dolence or  unfaithfulness.  Those  addresses  and 
sermons  which  have  been  published  new-year 
after  new-year,  and  directed  immediately  to  the 
young,  are  a  memorial  before  the  throne  of  God 
and  before  the  world,  and  in  your  own  con- 
sciences, that  I  am  pure  from  your  blood  ;  that 
you  have  not  gone  down  to  hell  without  warn- 
ing of  your  danger  and  duty ;  of  your  disease 
•Q  2 


186  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

as  sinners,  and  of  the  sovereign,  infallible  virtue 
of  that  balm  which  grows  upon  the  Hill  of  Cal- 
vary. Among  your  earliest  recollections,  you 
must  remember  that  the  truth  has  been  sound- 
ing in  your  ears,  sometimes  in  your  father's 
house,  and  sometimes  in  the  house  of  God,  that, 
you  are  the  children  of  wrath  by  nature ;  that 
except  you  be  born  again,  you  cannot  see  the 
kingdom  of  God ;  that  there  is  a  free  and  full 
salvation  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  there  is  nei- 
ther pardon  nor  peace  for  a  son  or  daughter  of 
Adam  in  any  other. 

"As  I  have  been  confined  to  my  room  this  day 
by  a  slight  bodily  indisposition,  I  have  thought 
much  about  you  ;  I  have  passed  in  imagination 
from  family  to  family,  noticing  such  a  precious 
youth  in  whose  eyes  I  have  occasionally  seen 
a  penitential  tear  rising  under  the  word  of  ex- 
hortation, and  I  have  also  observed,  with  heavi- 
ness of  heart,  such  a  youth  on  whom  the  voice 
either  of  terror  or  entreaty  made  no  impression. 

"  I  have  this  day  prayed  frequently,  and  some- 
times with  a  degree  of  enlargement,  that  the 
eyes  of  your  understanding  might  be  opened  to 
discover  your  danger  before  it  is  too  late ;  that 
you  might  be  driven  by  a  holy  necessity  to  es- 
cape the  damnation  of  hell  before  you  are  wrap- 
ped irrecoverably  in  its  flames.  I  have  been 
looking  upon  you,  my  dear  youth,  with  a  measure 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFTT.  187 

of  the  same  solicitude  with  which  the  compas- 
sionate Saviour  looked  on  the  inhabitants  of  Je- 
rusalem when  he  wept  and  exclaimed, '  If  thou 
hadst  known,  even  thou,  in  this  thy  day,  the 
things  which  belonged  to  thy  peace.' 

"  Having  in  my  private  room  felt  alternately 
these  hopes  and  fears  respecting  your  immor- 
tal destinies,  I  sit  down  to  indulge  my  feelings 
by  sending  you  this  address.  I  ought  to  ac- 
knowledge that  my  heart  has  been  encouraged 
not  a  little  in  the  labours  of  the  Gospel  by  your 
attention  to  the  outward  means  ;  you  have  com- 
mitted to  memory  catechisms,  psalms,  hymns, 
and  chapters  of  the  Bible ;  but  in  my  Master's 
name,  I  ask  you,  as  it  were,  owe  by  one,  the  fol- 
lowing questions :  '  Hast  thou  actually  closed 
with  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  thine  own  Sav- 
iour in  particular?  Hast  thou  sought  and  ob- 
tained peace  to  thy  conscience  by  applying  his 
sacrifice  and  righteousness  ?  Art  thou  depend- 
ing upon  him  from  day  to  day  as  thy  friend  and 
portion,  and  the  guide  of  thy  youth  V  A  gen- 
eral attention  to  the  means  of  salvation,  or  a 
general  persuasion  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel, 
never  yet  brought  a  sinner  to  heaven ;  it  will 
never  bring  thee  to  heaven  any  more  than  look- 
ing at  bread  on  the  table  will  satisfy  thy  hunger, 
or  at  water  in  the  fountain  will  quench  thy  thirst, 
or  looking  at  medicine  in  the  hands  of  the  phy- 


188  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

sician  will  heal  a  disease  upon  thy  body.  It 
was  the  maxim  of  the  Reformers,  it  is  the  max- 
im of  every  apostle  and  prophet  of  the  Lamb, 
that  an  unapplied  Saviour  is  no  Saviour.  His 
righteousness  only  adorns  those  who  put  it  on ; 
his  blood  only  reconciles  those  who  apply  it  by 
a  living  faith :  his  grace  sanctifies  only  those 
who  are  united  to  his  person ;  his  promises  are 
the  charter  of  eternal  life  only  of  those  who  re- 
ceive them  ;  and,  in  the  end,  his  salvation  will 
be  awarded  as  the  portion  only  of  those  who 
are  one  with  him,  as  the  members  are  one  with 
the  head,  or  as  the  branches  are  one  with  the 
vine. 

"  Perhaps  some  of  you  are  impressed  with  these 
infinitely  important  realities,  but  are  secretly 
saying,  '  I  know  not  how  I  may  attain  to  an  in- 
terest in  the  Saviour,  and  thus  make  my  calling 
and  election  sure.'  Oh  that  I  might  indulge  the 
hope,  my  beloved  youth,  that  you  are  thus 
awake  to  a  reflection  upon  your  everlasting  con- 
cerns. A  deep  discovery  of  your  disease  I 
would  consider  as  the  commencement  of  your 
cure — as  the  pangs  of  the  second  birth — as  the 
struggling  to  enter  the  strait  gate,  which  would 
infallibly  issue  in  your  .admission.  To  any  of 
you  who  are  eagerly  asking  *  What  shall  I  do  to 
be  saved  V  I  would  most  affectionately  give  the 
following  directions:  Meditate  much  on  the  love 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  189 

of  Christ ;  try  to  believe  on  the  testimony  of 
his  own  Word,  that  he  waits  to  be  gracious ; 
that  he  has  no  pleasure  in  the  sinner's  death,  but 
would  that  they  turn  from  their  wicked  ways 
and  live.  Meditate  much  on  his  design  in  com- 
ing into  the  world  and  dying  on  the  cross :  it 
was  to  save  sinners  :  had  we  not  been  sinners, 
Jesus  had  not  come  in  the  character  of  a  Sav- 
iour ;  and  had  he  not  delighted  in  the  salvation 
of  sinners,  he  would  not  have  bled  for  their  ran- 
som. He  suffered  for  us,  the  just  for  the  unjust, 
for  this  very  purpose,  that  he  might  bring  us  to 
God.  Meditate  on  the  success  of  all  who  have 
applied  to  him  for  mercy.  See  the  instance  of 
the  woman  who  had  the  issue  of  blood  twelve 
years,  and  of  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  as  re- 
lated in  the  5th  chapter  of  Mark.  See  the  in- 
stance of  him  who  had  waited  at  the  pool  thirty- 
eight  years,  and  of  the  woman  of  Canaan,  re- 
corded in  Matthew,  xv.,  and  in  the  5th  chapter 
of  John.  Meditate  also  on  the  following  invi- 
tations of  the  divinely  compassionate  Saviour : 
Proverbs,  viii.,  32.  Jeremiah,  iii.,  4.  Matthew, 
xi.,  28-30.  Luke,  xi.,  13.  Read  in  your  Bi- 
bles all  these  instances  in  which  he  showed 
mercy  to  others,  and  believe  that  he  is  as  mer- 
ciful now  as  when  he  sojourned  in  our  world ; 
that  he  is  as  willing  to  glorify  his  grace  in  your 
salvation  as  in  theirs.  Would  he  permit  his  bless^ 


190  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ed  side  to  be  opened,  that  he  might  open  a  fount- 
ain for  sin  and  for  uncleanness,  and  afterward 
reject  you,  when  applying  to  his  blood  for  par- 
don and  purification?  Does  he  not  most  sol- 
emnly assure  you,  '  him  that  cometh  unto  me  I 
will  in  no  wise  cast  out ;'  and,  my  young  friends, 
having  gained  an  interest  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  you  have  nothing  more  to  gain ;  all  things 
are  yours — earth  and  heaven  are  yours — grace 
and  glory  are  yours.  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  hath  everlasting  life ;  but  if,  through  your 
unbeHef  and  impenitence,  you  fail  of  an  interest 
in  him,  all  the  curses  written  in  the  Bible  are 
your  fearful  inheritance  ;  you  will  live  under  the 
curse,  you  will  die  under  the  curse  ;  your  souls 
will  go  to  the  judgment-seat,  and  then  to  hell 
under  the  curse;  your  bodies  will  sink  into  the 
grave  under  the  curse  ;  they  will  moulder  in  the 
grave,  and  rise  from  it  under  the  curse  ;  and  your 
souls  and  bodies,  reunited  at  the  resurrection, 
must  continue  to  drink  the  cup  of  cursing  while 
there  is  an  avenging  God  to  fill  it  up.  I  warn 
each  of  you  committed  to  my  charge — I  warn 
you  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  Jesus,  and 
of  angels,  that  if  you  neglect  this  great  salva- 
tion, you  cannot  escape  ;  after  trampling  on  such 
love  and  long-suffering  manifested  by  the  Fa- 
ther, and  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  you  ought  not 
to  escape.     After  you  have  heard  this  warning 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  191 

from  your  absent  pastor  read  in  the  church,  re- 
tire to  your  houses  with  resohitions  to  unite  that 
very  afternoon  with  the  Saviour  of  sinners  as 
your  own  Saviour  in  particular.  Let  the  even- 
ing be  spent  in  the  exercises  of  self-examination 
and  self-dedication ;  be  entreated  and  urged  by 
all  the  riches  of  Jehovah's  mercy  not  to  lie  down 
upon  your  beds  until  you  have  made  your  peace 
with  him,  by  an  affectionate  and  particular  ap- 
propriation of  his  dear  Son  as  your  righteous- 
ness and  portion.  That  God  who  gave  you  be- 
ing, and  sustains  you  in  hfe  every  moment,  com- 
mands each  of  you  as  with  a  voice  from  the 
third  heavens,  *  to-day  if  ye  will  hear  his  voice, 
harden  not  your  hearts ;  remember  now  thy 
Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth ;'  and  if,  in  the 
face  of  all  those  admonitions,  one  of  you  will 
dare  to  postpone  your  repentance  until  to-mor- 
row, he  may  swear  in  his  wrath  that  you  shall 
not  enter  into  his  rest.  The  bed  in  your  father's 
house  on  which  you  indolently  recline  this  even- 
ing may  be  exchanged  for  the  flames  of  hell 
before  the  light  of  the  morning  returns.  Wilt 
thou  not,  therefore,  from  the  time  that  this  warn- 
ing is  heard  from  the  pulpit,  be  constantly  cry- 
ing unto  him,  *  my  Father,  thou  art  the  guide  of 
my  youth.'  Wilt  thou  not  look  by  fervent  pray- 
er for  the  accomplishment  of  his  promises,  ' « 
new  heart  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  ^vill 


192  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

I  put  within  you ;  I  will  pour  upon  you  the  spirit 
of  grace  and  supplication,  and  ye  shall  look  upon 
me  whom  ye  have  pierced.  As  the  sheet  of  pa- 
per is  nearly  filled  up,  and  my  strength  almost 
exhausted,  I  must  conclude,  committing  you  to 
God  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace,  which  is  able 
to  sanctify  and  present  you  faultless  before  the 
presence  of  his  glory  with  everlasting  joy. 
Cease  not  to  pray  for  yourselves,  and  for  your 
absent  yet  truly  affectionate  pastor  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  Alexander  Proudfit." 

"  New- York,  November  22d,  1820. 

"  To  that  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  made  me  overseer,  grace  and  peace  be 
multiplied  from  God  our  Father  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

"  Brethren  dearly  beloved,  this  is  the  first 
Sabbath  which  has  occurred  since  my  departure 
from  you,  and  I  may  freely  assert  that  you  are 
frequently  in  my  thoughts  both  by  night  and 
by  day.  When  the  bell  gave  the  signal  this 
morning  of  the  approach  of  the  hour  of  public 
worship,  my  imagination  bore  me  to  our  own 
peaceful  sanctuary.  I  was  led  to  recollect  those 
frequent  occasions  when  we  had  mingled  sweet 
fellowship  in  the  exercises  of  prayer  and  praise, 
of  preaching  and  hearing  the  Word  of  Truth, 
the  Gospel  of  your  salvation,  and  in  surrounding 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  193 

the  table  of  our  common  Saviour  to  receive  the 
symbols  of  his  ov^^n  body  and  blood.  While  sit- 
ting in  the  temple  to-day  in  this  city,  my  soul 
w^as  occasionally  ascending  in  ardent  supplica- 
tions, that  the  Holy  Ghost  might  descend  on 
you  and  your  dear  offspring  in  his  sanctifying 
and  saving  influences.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
there  are  many  of  you  to  whom  the  Sabbath  of 
Jehovah  is  a  delight,  and  his  tabernacle  pre- 
cious. You  can  probably  appeal  to  him  from 
repeated  experience,  '  blessed  are.  they  who 
dwell  in  thy  house  ;'  '  a  day  in  thy  courts  is  bet- 
ter than  a  thousand  ;'  '  one  thing  have  I  desired 
of  the  Lord,  and  that  will  I  seek  after,  that  I 
may  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  forever,  to 
behold  the  beauty  of  the  Lord,  and  to  inquire  in 
his  temple.'  There  your  burdens  have  been  re- 
moved, your  doubts  have  vanished  before  the 
light  of  your  Father's  countenance,  the  shadows 
of  night  have  been  dispersed  by  the  beams  of 
the  rising  sun,  your  grievances  have  been  re- 
dressed, your  tears  have  been*dried  up,  your 
holy  resolutions  confirmed,  your  desires  after 
the  things  of  this  passing  world  have  been  in 
some  degree  mortified,  your  longings  for  the  full 
fruition  of  the  heavenly  state  have  been  strength- 
ened, and  from  the  duties  of  the  temple  you  have 
frequently  retired  with  new  degrees  of  enlarge- 
ment to  the  devotions  of  the  family  and  the 
13  R 


19^  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

closet.  This,  with  respect  to  many  of  you,  has 
been,  I  trust,  the  repeated  and  blessed  experience. 
See,  my  Christian  friends,  that  for  past  enjoy- 
ments of  this  nature  you  give  to  God  the  undi- 
vided praise,  and  ask  more  liberally  from  his 
fullness  in  the  time  to  come.  '  He  hath  been 
mindful  of  you,  and  he  will  bless  you  still ;'  be 
uniform  and  unwearied  in  your  attendance  upon 
the  ordinances  of  his  house  ;  be  frequent  and  fer- 
vent in  supplicating  his  blessing  upon  all  these 
ordinances.  How  much  more  might  we  enjoy 
of  God,  of  the  light  of  his  countenance,  of  the 
pledges  of  his  love,  of  a  foretaste  of  those  end- 
less pleasures  which  are  at  his  right  hand,  were 
we  more  importunate  as  we  go  to  his  sanctuary, 
expostulating  in  the  language  of  David, '  oh  send 
out  thy  light  and  thy  truth;'  or  with  Moses, 
*  Lord,  show  me  thy  glory  ;  if  thy  presence  go 
not  up  w^ith  me,  carry  me  not  up  hence.'  We  re- 
ceive not,  because  we  ask  not ;  w^e  receive  little 
of  the  consolations  of  the  covenant,  because  we 
ask  little.  No  parent  can  possibly  be  so  willing 
to  impart  to  the  wants  of  the  most  beloved  child, 
as  our  Father  in  heaven  is  ready  and  cheerful 
at  all  times  to  supply  the  necessities  of  his  spir- 
itual children.  He  waits  to  be  gracious  ;  he  is 
ever  ready,  by  night  or  by  day,  in  his  own  house 
or  in  your  houses,  *  to  do  in  you  and  fo7^  you 
exceeding  abundantly,  beyond  what  you  can  ask 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  195 

or  think.'  Ask,  therefore,  frequently  and  freely, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you  ;  '  ask  and  receive,  that 
your  joy  may  be  full.' 

"But,  alas!  what  sorrow  overv^^helms  my 
soul  when  I  express  my  fears — may  I  not  add, 
when  I  express  even  my  convictions — that  there 
are  some  of  you  who  yet  remain  strangers  to 
these  exercises.  Do  you  not  lie  down  in  the 
evening  without  offering  a  tribute  of  gratitude  to 
that  God  who  supported  you  during  the  employ- 
ments and  dangers  of  the  day ;  whose  care  pro- 
tected you  amid  the  perils  with  which  you  were 
surrounded,  and  whose  bounty  supplied  your  va- 
rious wants?  Do  you  not  rise  in  the  morning 
without  lifting  up  your  souls  in  thanksgiving  to 
Him  who  preserved  you  through  the  night — who 
in  his  tender  mercies  permitted  no  evil  to  befall 
you,  nor  any  plague  to  come  nigh  your  dwell- 
ing ?  Do  you  not  repair  to  the  church  on  the 
morning  of  the  sacred  Sabbath  without  reflect- 
ing on  the  purity  and  majesty  of  that  God  whose 
presence  you  approach,  or  without  asking  his 
blessing  on  yourselves,  or  your  families  or  others  ? 
And  after  the  public  services  are  finished,  do  you 
not  return  home  as  thoughtless  of  God  and  of 
your  eternal  destinies,  as  unconcerned  about  the 
necessity  of  pardon  through  the  Saviour's  sac- 
rifice, of  being  born  of  the  Spirit,  of  setting  your 
aflfections  upon  things  above,  as  if  no  warning 


196  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

had  been  given  ?  Ye  who  are  thus  at  ease  in 
Zion,  I  have  so  often  admonished  you  of  your 
danger  from  the  pulpit,  that  I  am  utterly  at  a 
loss  what  other  arguments  to  adduce  as  a  means 
of  rousing  you  to  a  consideration  of  your  ways. 
I  have  so  frequently  appealed  to  your  fears  by 
exhibiting  the  miseries  of  hell,  and  to  your  hopes 
by  presenting  the  happiness  of  heaven,  that  I 
know  not  by  what  other  motives  to  aim  at  alarm- 
ing, or  impressing,  or  persuading  you.  But  per- 
haps the  very  consideration  that,  although  ab- 
sent from  you  in  body,  I  am  yet  present  with 
you  in  mind,  longing  over  you  in  the  bowels  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  travailing,  as  it  were,  in 
birth  for  your  salvation,  perhaps  this  consider- 
ation, through  the  Holy  Ghost  w^orking  mightily 
upon  your  hearts,  may  prove  the  happy  occa- 
sion of  leading  you  to  reflect  on  your  ever- 
lasting concerns.  Who  knows  but  the  spirit  of 
life  and  of  power  may  constrain  the  aged  and 
the  young  who  have  long  remained  thoughtless 
to  reason  in  tho  following  manner :  Surely  if 
one  who  is  related  merely  as  a  pastor  is  thus 
anxious  about  my  future  interest,  is  it  not  un- 
reasonable that  1  should  feel  unconcerned  ?  My 
dear  fellow-sinners  and  fellow-immortals,  after 
this  letter  has  been  read  in  the  public  congrega- 
tion and  you  have  returned  to  your  respective 
residences,  retire  to  your  closets  and  solemnize 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  197 

your  hearts  in  the  presence  of  the  Father  of 
Spirits;  devote  a  little  time  to  self-examination; 
inquire  whether  you  have  undergone  that  change 
of  heart  without  which  neither  you,  nor  a  son, 
nor  a  daughter  of  Adam  shall  see  the  Lord  in 
peace.  Weep,  weep  bitterly  over  the  indolence 
and  impenitence  of  your  past  lives.  It  is  no 
matter  what  you  have  done  in  your  secular  pur- 
suits, if  you  have  forgotten  God  your  Creator, 
and  Jesus  your  Redeemer ;  if  you  have  not  given 
him  the  supreme  love  of  your  hearts,  and  the 
obedience  of  your  lives,  you  have  lived  in  vain, 
you  have  been  treasuring  up  wrath  against  the 
day  of  wrath.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
vanity  of  former  months  or  years,  resolve,  from 
the  hour  that  this  admonition  is  received,  that 
you  will  live  for  the  Lord,  and  for  your  souls, 
and  for  eternity.  Oh  !  beloved  brethren,  I  can- 
not cease  to  expostulate  with  you  on  these  in- 
finitely important  matters  while  the  exercise  of 
reason  is  left  to  me,  or  you  remain  prisoners  of 
hope.  Can  I  bear  the  thought  that  one  of  you, 
male  or  female,  old  or  young,  rich  or  poor,  black 
or  white,  which  was  committed  to  me  in  trust 
by  the  Great  Shepherd,  should  at  last  be  doom- 
ed to  devouring  flames  ?  Shall  all  my  entrea- 
ties with  you  in  private  and  public — shall  all  my 
studies,  my  prayers,  my  anxieties,  my  watchings, 
my  fastings  for  your  salvation,  during  the  lapse 
R  2 


198  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

of  twenty-six  years,  prove  only  the  occasion  of 
aggravating  your  guilt  in  that  hour  when  I  must 
render  an  accountof  my  stewardship  before  men, 
and  angels,  and  God  ?  Shall  that  Gospel  which 
I  have  so  often  proclaimed  to  you  in  weakness, 
yet  in  purity  and  simplicity,  which  has  become 
to  millions  the  savour  of  life  unto  life,  prove  unto 
one  of  you  the  savour  of  death  unto  death? 
But  I  hope  better  things  of  you — even  things 
which  accompany  salvation.  Willingly  I  cher- 
ish the  pleasing  persuasion  that  some  aged  sin- 
ner, who  has  long  been  led  captive  by  his  own 
lusts,  or  some  precious  youth,  will  from  this 
evening  break  their  covenant  with  death  and 
their  agreement  with  hell,  by  repenting  and  turn- 
ing to  the  Lord. 

"*  Finally,  brethren,  farewell ;  be  perfect,  be  of 
good  comfort,  live  in  peace,  and  the  God  of  love 
and  of  peace  shall  be  with  you.'  Receive  this 
epistle  as  an  assurance  that,  although  separated 
from  you  in  the  providence  of  God,  I  am  present 
with  you  in  spirit ;  receive  it  as  an  expression 
of  my  solicitude  for  your  welfare,  and  my  will- 
ingness, either  by  the  mouth  or  the  pen,  to  pro- 
mote it  as  opportunity  offers.  Should  I  be 
spared  of  the  Lord  to  return  to  you  at  the  ap- 
pointed time,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  I  will 
find  in  the  land  of  the  livinGf  all  whom  I  ad- 
dressed  at  my  departure.     But  into  what  fam- 


REV.  DR.   PKOUDFIT.  199 

ily  of  my  beloved  flock  the  messenger  of  death 
will  make  his  entrance — what  father,  or  mother, 
or  son,  or  daughter  will  be  first  added  to  his 
trophies,  is  unknown  to  me  ;  this  is  locked  up 
among  the  impenetrable  secrets  of  a  sovereign 
God.  *  Watch,  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither 
the  day  nor  the  hour  wherein  the  Son  of  Man 
cometh.'  That  grace  may  be  with  you  all  is 
and  shall  be  the  prayer  of  your  servant,  for  Je- 
sus' sake,  Alexander  Proudfit." 

Among  the  numerous  letters  to  the  members 
of  his  family,  written  during  Dr.  P.'s  residence 
in  New-York,  we  select  the  follov;^ing  to  his  el- 
dest son,  then  a  student  at  Union  College,  now 
the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Proudfit,  of  Rutgers  College. 
It  is  dated 

"New- York,  March  4th,  1821. 
"  My  very  dear  Son, 

*'Mr.  M.  reached  this  city  last  evening,  by 
whom  I  received  your  letter,  and  desire  devout- 
ly to  thank  that  God  who  has  so  far  preserved 
you  and  the  other  branches  of  our  beloved  fam- 
ily during  our  long  separation.  Let  us  unite  in 
adoring  him  for  our  protection  in  times  past,  and 
rely  upon  him,  that  in  his  abundant  goodness  he 
would  afford  us  an  opportunity  of  meeting  each 
other  in  the  land  of  the  living.  I  notice  from 
your  letter  that  you  feel  solicitous  about  the  pros- 


200  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

pect  before  you,  when,  if  spared  in  life,  you  must 
enter  the  public  theatre  and  act  your  part  in  the 
world.  It  is  very  proper  that  you  should  feel 
thus  anxious,  because  in  the  choice  of  a  profes- 
sion, and  the  manner  in  which  you  discharge  the 
duties  of  that  profession,  your  temporal  comfort 
and  your  eternal  welfare  are  very  intimately  in- 
volved. I  know  well  how  to  sympathize  with 
you.  I  experienced  the  same  solicitude  in  my 
own  turn  before  you.  The  same  hopes  and 
fears,  joys  and  sorrows,  which  alternately  agi- 
tate your  bosom,  agitated  my  own ;  but,  my  dear 
son,  how  precious  is  the  promise, '  I  will  be  your 
God  and  the  God  of  your  seed  ;'  and  he  who  has 
supported  me  to  the  period  of  nearly  fifty  years, 
amid  ten  thousand  weaknesses ;  who  has  kept  me, 
in  some  measure,  from  the  pollutions  of  the  world ; 
who  has  followed  me,  worthless  and  insignificant 
as  I  am,  with  so  many  expressions  of  loving- 
kindness  and  tender  mercy,  is  just  as  ready  to 
bless  you.  He  is  the  same  loving,  forbearing, 
sympathizing  God,  *  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for- 
ever ;'  always  infinitely  able  and  willing  to  guide, 
and  guard,  and  prosper,  and  comfort  those  who 
put  their  trust  in  him.  The  promise  stands  more 
immoveable  than  the  everlasting  hills, '  I  will  not 
turn  away  from  you  to  do  you  good.'  There  is 
one  passage  which  often  gave  me  consolation 
within  the  walls  of  Columbia  College  when  sep- 


KEV.    DR.    PUOUDFIT.  201 

arated  far  from  earthly  friends,  and  which  I  think 
was  literally  fulfilled,  Gen.,  xxviii.,  20-22.  That 
and  the  following  promises  I  would  affectionately 
recommend  to  your  meditation :  Isa.,xli.,  10 ;  xlii., 
16  ;  xliii.,  2.  Jer.,  xxxii.,  39-41  ;  iii.,  4.  My  dear 
son,  consider  these  promises  as  certain,  being 
the  sayings  of  him  who  cannot  lie;  they  are 
yea  and  amen  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
have  been  proved  true,  infallibly  true  and  pre- 
cious, unutterably  precious,  by  millions  who  are 
on  earth  and  in  heaven.  It  is  very  proper  oc- 
casionally to  set  apart  an  hour  for  special  pray- 
er, and  meditation,  and  self-dedication,  and  cov- 
enanting with  God,  as  the  God  of  your  fathers, 
and  your  own  God  in  particular.  He  will  be 
found  of  them  who  seek  him  ;  he  will  guide  by 
his  counsel  those  who  come  to  him  for  direction. 
While  young  Jabez  prayed, '  O  that  thou  wouldst 
bless  me  indeed,  and  let  thine  hand  be  with 
me  to  keep  me  from  evil,'  the  Lord  granted 
that  which  he  requested.  A  gracious  God  is 
particularly  pleased  and  honoured  when  any, 
but  especially  when  young  persons,  come  to  him 
for  direction.  As  to  the  profession  which  you 
may  choose,  I  have  nothing  to  say.  The  Lord 
as  a  sovereign  fixes  the  bounds  of  our  habita- 
tion, and  he  fixes  as  a  sovereign  the  station 
which  we  are  to  occupy,  and  to  this  God  I  com- 
mend you,  with  my  earnest  prayers  that  he  may 


202  MJiMUlil    OF    THE 

make  the  path  of  duty  plain  before  you.  Yet, 
if  it  was  the  Lord's  pleasure,  I  would  be  highly 
gratified  in  seeing  you  make  choice  of  the  holy 
ministry,  because  there  is  no  profession  in  which 
a  godly  man  has  an  opportunity  of  doing  so 
much  for  his  Creator,  for  that  Jesus  who  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  his  own  blood,  for  the 
souls  of  perishing  mortals,  and  for  his  own  eter- 
nal crown.  O  how  great  the  reward  which  is 
laid  up  in  heaven  for  the  faithful,  self-denied 
servant  of  the  cross  !  '  They  who  turn  many 
to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the  stars  forever 
and  ever.'  It  was  the  profession  of  your  ven- 
erable grandfather ;  and  after  the  service  of  his 
Master  fifty  years,  it  was  his  daily  theme  in  his 
last  illness,  *  goodness  and  mercy  have  followed 
me  all  the  days  of  my  life.'  And  as  to  my  own 
pilgrimage,  I  can  add  my  testimony  to  the  pow- 
er of  his  grace,  '  goodness  and  mercy  have  fol- 
lowed me :  my  crosses  have  issued  in  comforts  ; 
the  clouds  which  have  often  collected  over  my 
head  have  poured  down  their  blessings ;  the 
yoke  of  Jesus  has  been  easy  to  me,  and  his  bur- 
den light.  You  have  seen  some  stars  fall  from 
the  firmament  of  the  Church  which  may  tend 
to  discourage,  but  have  you  not  seen  others 
shining  brighter  and  brighter  unto  the  perfect 
day  ?  And  Jesus,  the  mighty  God,  is  able  to 
keep  you  from  falling,  and  present  you  faultless 


REV.  DR.    PRUUDFIT.  203 

before  the  presence  of  his  glory  with  exceeding 
joy.  That  the  God  of  all  grace  may  protect, 
prosper,  and  comfort  you  with  his  rich  consola- 
tion, is  the  prayer  of  your  affectionate  father, 

"  A.  P." 

The  remarks  on  the  choice  of  a  profession  in 
this  charming  epistle  are  worthy  of  the  partic- 
ular attention  of  Christian  parents.  In  the  pres- 
ent day,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  there  are  many 
such  parents  who  would  greatly  prefer  that 
their  sons  should  enter  upon  some  one  of  the 
paths  of  worldly  emolument  or  honour,  though 
they  might  not  absolutely  oppose  their  devoting 
themselves  to  Christ  in  the  ministry  of  the  Gos- 
pel. On  the  other  hand,  there  may  be  those  who 
are  indulging  an  undue  anxiety  to  see  their  sons 
invested  with  the  sacred  office.  We  have  known 
cases  in  which  parents,  under  the  influence  of 
this  desire,  have  made  the  completion  of  the 
classical  education  of  their  children  to  hinge 
upon  their  determination  to  study  for  the  min- 
istry, and  this,  too,  before  they  had  given  any 
evidence  of  their  being  the  subjects  of  the  grace 
of  God.  This  is  no  doubt  well  meant,  but  it  is 
exceedingly  ill  judged,  and  may  be  productive 
of  very  mischievous  results.  It  puts  a  youth 
in  the  worst  possible  position  for  solving  the  sol- 
emn question  of  his  call  to  the  ministry.     He 


204  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

may  want  the  grace  of  God  ;  or,  though  a  new 
man  in  Christ  Jesus,  the  real  bent  of  his  mind 
may  be  towards  some  other  employment,  and 
yet,  while  in  this  condition,  he  is  required  to 
choose  between  entrance  into  the  ministry  and 
the  abandonment  of  a  begun  course  of  liberal 
education.  And  even  if  the  young  man  be  gui- 
ded in  his  decision  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  will 
still  be  in  no  small  danger  of  being  perplexed 
by  doubts  whether  his  decision  to  engage  in  the 
public  service  of  Christ  proceeds  from  respect 
and  affection  for  his  parents,  or  from  his  having 
heard  the  call  of  God.  Even  where  parents 
have  dedicated  a  child  to  God  for  this  work  from 
his  infancy,  and  however  intense  may  be  their 
desires  to  see  him  in  the  pulpit,  let  them  never 
forget  that  it  is  the  prerogative  of  the  Lord  Je- 
sus to  send  whom  he  will,  and  that  they  have 
no  right  or  reason  to  be  disappointed  if  he  is 
not  pleased  to  call  the  child  whom  they  had 
fondly  given  to  him  to  be  employed  in  the  em- 
bassy of  reconciliation. 

We  shall  conclude  this  chapter  with  a  few 
extracts  from  letters  to  Mrs.  Proudfit :  he  writes 
under  date  of 

"February  3d,  1821. 

"  The  weather  has  been  intensely  cold,  so  that 
they  have  crossed  the  North  and  East  Rivers 
on  the  ice,  which  has  not  been  done  within  forty- 


REV.    DR.  PROUDFIT.  205 

one  years;  but,  through  great  goodness,  I  es- 
caped the  least  ill  effect  from  the  cold  until  the 
change  of  weather  took  place.     I  truly  rejoice 

to  hear  that  our  dear  J appears  concerned 

about  his  soul ;  tell  him  to  take  no  peace  to  his 
mind  until  he  finds  it  in  the  Saviour's  love. 
This  is  the  one  thing  needful,  better  than  the 
gain  of  ten  thousand  vv^orlds.  The  vanity  of 
everything  was  never  more  visibly  to  be  seen 
than  it  is  at  present  in  this  city.  I  formerly  sent 
you  the '  Register'  for  Mrs.  W— — ,  and  now  send 
you  another  number,  in  which  you  will  find  an 
address  to  the  Western  Churches.  I  have  a 
long  letter  for  the  congregation,  but  have  not 
time  to  transcribe  it  now ;  you  may  expect  it, 
if  the  Lord  spares  me  in  health,  in  about  ten 
days.  With  respect  to  your  own  darkness  which 
still  continues,  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  will,  in  the 
end,  give  way  to  a  pleasant  dawn ;  and,  in  the 
mean  time,  I  would  recommend  you  to  read 
'  Trail  on  The  Throne  of  Graced  vol.  i.,  which 
I  have  lately  perused  with  much  spiritual  com- 
fort; and  read  also  the  following  gracious  as- 
surances, John,  iii.,  16.  Matt.,  xi.,  28-30.  Isa., 
i.,  18;  and  the  14th,  15th,  and  16th  chapters  of 
John.  In  meditating  upon  these,  wait  the  Lord's 
time  for  comfort,  because  I  am  persuaded  that 
it  will  come.  Although  the  hours  of  night  often 
appear  long,  yet  the  morning  comes  in  due  sea- 
S 


206  MEMOIR    OF   THE 

son  ;  though  dreary  winter  now  reigns  over  the 
vegetable  world,  yet  the  spring  is  approaching 
with  fresh  delights,  and  the  longer  you  are  call- 
ed to  wait  in  faith  and  prayer,  the  sweeter  will 
be  the  joys  of  salvation  when  actually  experi- 
enced." 

"February  14th,  1821. 
"I  received,  a  few  days  since,  a  letter  from 

our  dear  J ,  which  breathes  much  of  that 

religious  feeling  which  is  the  only  comfort  and 
the  highest  glory  of  man  in  this  world  of  imper- 
fection. I  laboured  for  two  or  three  days  under 
the  influence  of  a  cold  which  prevailed  in  this 
city  after  the  mild  weather  commenced,  but 
through  the  Lord's  mercies  am  now  completely 
restored.  O  how  light  are  my  afflictions,  in- 
finitely light,  compared  to  my  deservings,  and 
infinitely  light  compared  with  those  of  others 
who  are  no  worse  by  nature  or  practice  !  I  have 
been  reminded,  just  as  I  sat  down  to  write  this 
letter,  by  reading  of  the  death  of  Judge  Young- 
love,  Judge  Sargeant,  and  Captain  Smith,  of  our 
county,  how  greatly  are  we  indebted  to  that 
forbearing  God  who  preserves  us,  when  so  many 
are  carried  to  the  land  of  silence.  Enclosed 
there  is  another  circular  of  our  society,  and  also 
a  notice  which  has  just  been  handed  in,  to  show 
you  that  there  is  plenty  to  do ;  and  I  sincerely 
desire  to  adore  that  Master  who  is  opening  so 


REV.   DR.    PROUDFIT.  207 

many  doors  of  usefulness,  and,  I  trust,  is  giving 
me  some  inclination  to  improve  them.  I  also 
forward  a  copy  of  another  letter  to  the  congre- 
gation, which  you  will  have  read  on  the  first 
Sabbath.  I  have  also  another  for  the  youth,  but 
it  is  not  transcribed  ;  if  spared,  I  will  send  it  to 
be  read  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  March.  I 
now  begin  to  look  forward  for  the  approach  of 
Spring,  and  sincerely  long  not  only  to  return  to 
my  dear  family  and  flock,  but  also  to  the  retire- 
ment and  simplicity  of  the  country  life.  With 
respect  to  your  own  spiritual  concerns,  I  would 
refer  you  to  the  promises  quoted  in  my  last  let- 
ter, and  also  to  'Guthrie's  Trial  of  a  Saving  In- 
terest in  Christ.'  That  the  Great  Preserver  may 
protect  and  comfort  you,  is  the  daily  and  un- 
feigned prayer  of  your  loving  A.  P." 


208  MEMOIR    OF    THE 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LATTER  YEARS. 


It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  the  year 
1821  was  one  of  severe  and  varied  trials  to  the 
subject  of  this  memoir.  His  health  v^as  so  much 
impaired  that,  for  a  time,  fears  were  entertained 
by  his  friends  for  the  result ;  he  was  obliged  to 
abstain  from  preaching  for  a  considerable  period, 
and  spent  the  summer  of  that  year  in  travelling 
through  New-England.  How  deeply  he  felt 
this  providential  exclusion  from  his  much-loved 
work  of  publishing  the  glad  tidings  of  mercy,  is 
shown  by  various  passages  of  his  diary,  in  which 
he  records  the  frequent  invitations  to  preach 
which  he  received  during  the  course  of  his  jour- 
ney, but  was  under  the  necessity  of  declining. 
He  thus  writes, 

"Sabbath  afternoon,  September  16th,  Worth- 
ington,  Mass.  I  have  been  travelling  for  my 
health,  and  attended  sermon  this  morning  with 
Rev.  Mr.  Pomeroy,  and  was  much  entreated  by 
him  and  his  people  to  preach,  but  dare  not,  ow- 
ing to  bodily  inability.  Was  moved  with  com- 
passion to  see  a  great  multitude  of  people,  par- 
ticularly of  precious  youth,  and  would  have  es- 


REV.  Dii.  rilOUDFlT.  209 

teemed  it  an  unspeakable  privilege  to  address 
them  on  the  important  reahties  of  eternity,  but 
am  denied  this  pleasure.  I  think  that  to  preach 
Jesus  and  him  crucified,  although  in  much  weak- 
ness both  of  mind  and  body,  has  been,  in  some  de- 
gree, the  delight  of  my  life.  I  have  often  expe- 
rienced seasons  of  enlargement  in  the  pulpit  in 
offering  to  fellow-sinners  his  unsearchable  riches, 
which  I  shall  not  forget  either  in  time  or  in  eter- 
nity. But  now  I  am  called  to  be  abased.  My 
Master,  by  repeated  returns  of  the  fever,  has  been 
teaching  me  experimentally  my  insignificance 
and  vileness  ;  and  in  these  circumstances  of  hu- 
mihation  I  desire  to  exercise  submission.  He 
has  an  absolute  right  to  do  with  me  as  seemeth 
good  in  his  sight ;  neither  would  I  dare  to  chal- 
lenge him  by  saying  '  what  doest  thou  V  These 
are  precious  moments  when  I  can  say, '  not  my 
will,  blessed  Saviour,  but  thine,  be  done ;'  be 
thou  glorified  in  me,  and  by  me,  whether  in 
health  or  aflliction  ;  whether  in  life  or  in  death. 
I  bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  that  thou  hast  been 
spared  so  long  in  his  vineyard,  and  enjoyed  so 
many  opportunities  of  testifying  the  Gospel  of  his 
grace." 

"  Brattlehoroughf    Vermont ,   September    23d. 

Stopped  in  this  place  to  spend  the  holy  Sabbath, 

that  sacred  rest  from  the  toils  and  anxieties  of 

the  present  world  which  remaineth  for  the  peo- 

14  S  2 


210  MEMOlli    OF    THE 

pie  of  God.  The  hour  for  pubUc  worship  has  not 
yet  arrived,  and  as  yesterday  was  the  birthday 
of  our  oldest  son,  and  as  this  is  the  birthday  of 
our  second  son,  I  have  agreed  with  Mrs.  P.  to 
spend  some  time  in  giving  them  back  to  that  God 
who  gave  them  to  us,  and  who  has  so  long  pre- 
served them  with  us.  Read  together  Deut., 
XXX.,  6.  Isa.,  xliv.,  3,  4.  Jer.,  xxxii.,  38-40. 
Isa.,  lix.,  21.  O  Lord!  although  they  are  this 
morning  remote  from  us,  they  are  nigh  to  thee, 
who  fillest  all  space  at  all  times  with  thy  pres- 
ence. May  thine  everlasting  arms  be  around 
them  to  protect  them ;  may  thy  most  blessed 
Spirit  rest  upon  them  for  their  sanctification  and 
direction.  Keep  their  bodies  from  every  acci- 
dent to  which  they  may  be  exposed ;  but  above 
all,  keep  their  souls  from  the  commission  of  any 
sin  by  which  thy  name  would  be  dishonoured, 
thy  Spirit  grieved,  the  generation  of  thy  follow- 
ers offended,  and  their  own  eternal  welfare  en- 
dangered. 

''  As  the  congregation  over  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  me  overseer  are  this  day  de- 
prived of  the  dispensation  of  the  word,  I  desire 
to  commit  them  to  the  Great  Shepherd  of  the 
sheep :  found  encouragement  from  Heb.,  xiii., 
20,  21.  I  know  that  Israel's  Shepherd  is  not 
confined  to  outward  means ;  he  can  easily  ac- 
complish  his   gracious    purposes  without    my 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT  211 

feeble  instrumentality.  I  desire,  therefore,  to 
commit  every  family  to  the  affectionate  care  of 
him  who  feeds  his  flock  wherever  they  are  scat- 
tered over  the  earth,  like  a  shepherd  who  gath- 
ereth  the  lambs  with  his  arms,  and  carries  them 
in  his  bosom. 

"In  reflecting  upon  the  condition  of  my  own 
dear  flock,  who  are  this  day  destitute  of  the  or- 
dinances of  his  grace,  I  was  led  to  contemplate 
the.  millions  in  our  own  and  in  other  countries 
whose  ears  are  rarely  saluted  by  the  voice  of 
mercy,  and  the  hundreds  of  millions  who  have 
never  seen  his  word  nor  heard  his  name.  O 
Lord,  '  the  harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  and  the 
labourers  are  few.'  In  mercy  to  perishing  im- 
mortals, send  forth  labourers  speedily  into  thy 
harvest ;  hasten  the  period  when  in  every  place 
incense  shall  be  oflfered,  and  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth  shall  see  thy  salvation." 

"  Lord's  day,  Sale?n,  October  2Sth,  1821.  This 
day  the  supper  of  our  Divine  Lord  is  dispensed 
in  the  sanctuary,  but  through  indisposition  I  am 
excluded  from  the  privilege  of  participating  of 
that  holy  ordinance  as  a  member,  or  dispensing 
to  the  dear  followers  of  Christ  the  memorials  of 
his  dying  love.  It  is  my  great  consolation  that, 
although  I  am  shut  out  from  the  cistern,  the  Liv- 
ing Fountain  is  open  and  accessible.  I  may  med- 
itate upon  the  promises  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 


212  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

offices  of  the  gracious  Spirit,  and  from  these 
wells  of  salvation  drink  and  be  satisfied.  I  this 
day  call  upon  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me, 
to  bless  the  Lord  that  he  ever  brought  me  to  the 
fellowship  of  his  grace,  that  I  can  now  say  with 
some  confidence,  *  I  know  in  whom  I  have  be- 
lieved, and  that  he  is  able  to  keep  that  which 
I  have  committed  to  him  against  the  day  of  his 
final  appearing.'  Oh,  the  glorious  prospect !  I 
call  upon  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me,  to 
bless  the  Lord  that  he  ever  brought  me  to  la- 
bour in  his  vineyard ;  and  that  he  has  honoured 
me,  though  the  least  of  all,  to  continue  so  long 
in  it,  while  many  of  my  own  age,  the  compan- 
ions of  my  youth,  have  been  called  out  of  it, 
some  ten,  some  fifteen,  some  twenty  years  ago. 
It  is  all  of  his  adorable  sovereignty.  By  the  grace 
of  God,  my  life  has  been  thus  long  protracted, 
and  on  his  rich  grace  I  depend,  through  the 
atoning  blood  of  Jesus,  for  the  remission  of  all 
my  imperfections  as  a  man  and  a  minister.  I 
have  not  loved  nor  served  as  I  ought ;  but  I  hope 
ere  long  to  know  as  I  am  known ;  to  love  as 
the  angels  love ;  to  serve  my  dear  Redeemer 
without  imperfection,  and  to  enjoy  him  without 
interruption  forever." 

With  the  return  of  health.  Dr.  Proudfit  joy- 
fully, and  with  fresh  zeal,  resumed  his  pastoral 
labours,  though  it  had  not  yet  pleased  his  heav- 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  213 

enly  Father  entirely  to  remove  all  the  occasions 
of  anxiety,  as  appears  from  the  following  ex- 
tracts of  the  diary  : 

''November  9th,  1822.  Set  apart  this  fore- 
noon for  special  humiliation  and  prayer, 

"  1st.  That  the  Lord  would  abundantly  bless 
the  congregation ;  that  he  would  prosper  his 
work  both  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  in 
rendering  his  professed  followers  more  edifying 
in  their  conversation,  and  more  active  in  his  ser- 
vice.    Ezekiel,  xxxvii.,  1-15.    John,  xvi.,  7-11. 

"  2d.  That  he  would  qualify  me  for  more  ex- 
tensive usefulness  in  his  Church.  Exod.,  xxix., 
44,  45.     Psalm  cxxxii.,  16;  Ixviii.,  18,  19. 

"  3d.  That  he  would  follow  with  his  blessing 
all  my  writings  which  have  been  circulated 
abroad,  and  render  them  subservient  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  his  cause.  2  Cor.,  v.,  18.  Isai., 
xlviii.,  17. 

^'4th.  That  he  would  manage  in  much  mercy  a 
matter  of  temporal  interest  which  has  long  been 
the  occasion  of  great  anxiety.  Psalm  Ivii.,  2. 
Exodus,  xiv.,  3.     2  Chron.,  xiv.,  11,  12. 

"  November  \Qtlu  1822.  Set  apart  this  morn- 
ing for  the  exercises  of  fasting  and  special  pray- 
er to  ask  of  the  Lord  the  same  blessings  which 
were  the  subjects  of  petition  this  day  week. 
Read  over  various  portions  of  Scripture  which 
authorize  us  to  appropriate  seasons  for  these  sol- 


214  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

emn  duties  when  special  mercies  are  required, 
and  which  also  show  the  happy  issue  with  which 
they  were  attended.  The  instance  of  Cornelius, 
related  in  Acts,  x.,  30  ;  of  Daniel,  as  contained 
in  the  9th  chapter  of  his  prophecy ;  and  also  of 
Esther,  iv.,  15-17.  These  were  encouraging  on 
account  of  the  speedy  and  gracious  answers 
which  were  given  to  these  saints,  when  in  their 
afflictions  they  wrestled  with  a  covenant  God  by 
prayer  and  fasting.  Cornelius,  when  thus  em- 
ployed, had  a  vision  of  the  holy  angel,  with  assu- 
rances that  he  and  all  his  should  be  saved.  While 
Daniel  was  yet  speaking,  the  man  Gabriel 
touched  him  about  the  time  of  the  evening  ob- 
lation, and  informed  him  of  the  time  when  Mes- 
siah should  appear  to  make  an  end  of  sin,  and 
bring  in  everlasting  righteousness.  And  in  an- 
swer to  the  supplications  of  Esther,  the  heart  of 
the  king  was  changed,  and  the  whole  nation  of 
the  Jews  was  saved.     Esther,  v.,  2,  3. 

^^  November  2Sd,  1822.  Set  apart  this  morn- 
ing for  fasting  and  prayer  in  relation  to  the  same 
subjects  which  were  carried  to  the  mercy-seat 
this  day  week.  With  respect  to  the  subject  of 
the  last  petition,  felt  much  freedom  in  commit- 
ting it  to  the  wise  and  merciful  management  of 
my  heavenly  Father ;  attained  to  an  entire  sub- 
mission to  his  will,  from  a  full  persuasion  that 
all  his  plans  are  perfect ;  that  they  are  wise  and 


REV.  DR.    PROUDFIT.  215 

holy,  and  just  and  good,  and  will  infallibly  issue 
in  glory  to  himself  and  the  eternal  gratitude  and 
joy  of  all  who  confide  in  his  mercy.  All  that  I 
have  now  to  ask  in  reference-  to  this  matter  is, 
patience  to  wait  the  Lord's  time  for  deliverance, 
and  implicit  submission  to  whatever  the  event 
may  be.  Read  over  with  much  comfort  Psalm 
civ.,  31,  32,  and  was  led  to  believe  that  the  Lord, 
in  his  great  goodness,  would  overrule  this  dispen- 
sation for  my  increased  usefulness  in  this  gen- 
eration." 

Such  is  the  blessed  privilege  of  the  believer, 
to  cast  all  his  burdens,  whether  temporal  or 
spiritual,  upon  the  Lord,  being  careful  for  no- 
thing, but  in  everything,  by  prayer  and  suppli- 
cation, with  thanksgiving,  making  known  his  re- 
quests unto  God.  And  in  proportion  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  his  faith  and  trust  will  he  find  the 
peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding 
keeping  his  heart  and  mind.  These  continued 
supplications  of  Dr.  Proudfit  for  personal  use- 
fulness, and  for  the  revival  of  the  Lord's  work 
in  his  congregation,  were  not  in  vain.  The  year 
1824  was  signalized  by  another  plentiful  effu- 
sion of  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon 
the  people  of  his  charge.  Under  date  of  June 
9th,  there  is  a  record  of  an  agreement  with  some 
Christian  friends  to  devote  a  day  to  the  exercises 
of  fasting  and  prayer  "  in  behalf  of  various  per- 


216  ME.AIOIR    OF    THE 

sons  distressed  concerning  their  everlasting  con- 
cerns, and  that  the  Lord  would  continue  to  pros- 
per his  work  in  the  congregation  which  he  has 
been  carrying  on  among  them  for  some  time  in 
a  remarkable  degree,  and  that  he  would  estab- 
lish all  those  who  have  come  out  of  the  world  by 
an  open  profession  of  his  name."  During  the 
same  year  he  was  called  to  mourn  the  loss  of 
one  of  his  oldest  and  most  warmly-attached 
friends,  the  late  Divie  Bethune,  Esq.,  of  New- 
York  ;  the  news  of  his  decease  called  forth  the 
following  letter  : 

"  Salem,  September  23d,  1824 
"  My  truly  esteemed  Friend, 
"  I  have  heard  within  a  few  minutes  the  mel- 
ancholy intelligence  of  the  death  of  your  dear 
husband,  and  seize  a  few  moments  of  leisure 
to  express  my  sympathy  with  you  under  this 
trying  dispensation  of  your  heavenly  Father. 
I  pronounce  the  intelligence  melancholy ;  it  is 
so  to  the  Church  militant,  of  which  he  has  long 
been  a  distinguished  ornament  and  support;  it 
is  so  to  the  poor  and  the  oppressed,  who  have 
always  found  his  ear  open  to  their  complaints, 
his  heart  ready  to  melt  at  the  tale  of  their  woes, 
and  his  hand  extended  to  help  them ;  it  is  so  to 
me,  for  I  recollect  him  as  the  intimate  compan- 
ion of  my  youth,  and  amid  all  the  vicissitudes 
which  must  be  expected  in  this  world  of  change, 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  in  joy  and  sorrow. 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  217 

in  prosperity  and  adversity,  I  have  found  him 
an  ardent,  undissembled  friend.  Long  have  we 
travelled  through  this  vale  of  tears,  participating 
as  men,  and  I  trust  as  Christians,  in  the  com- 
forts and  crosses  of  each  other ;  it  must  be  so 
to  his  family,  to  whom  he  has  been  a  father 
more  than  ordmarily  prudent,  vigilant,  affection- 
ate, and  provident ;  but,  above  all,  it  must  be 
melancholy  to  you,  madam,  with  whom  he 
was  united  in  a  relation  the  most  intimate  and 
endearing.  But,  however  painful  the  separa- 
tion must  prove  to  all  whom  he  has  left  be- 
hind, the  change  is,  without  doubt,  and  beyond 
expression,  joyous  to  himself  Free  from  sin 
and  sorrow,  he  now  sees  the  face  of  the  lovely 
Saviour  as  he  is  ;  he  know^s  him  as  he  is  known, 
he  loves  as  angels  love,  he  sings  as  angels  sing, 
and  enjoys,  without  interruption  and  without  end, 
all  which  his  capacities,  expanded  in  the  light  of 
immortality,  are  capable  of  enjoying. 

"  '  O  sweet  employ  to  sing  and  trace 

The  amazing  heights  and  depths  of  grace ; 
To  spend,  from  sin  and  sorrow  free, 
A  bUssfuI,  vast  eternity.' 

"  And  now,  my  dear  friend,  entertaining  such 
hopes  in  behalf  of  your  departed  husband,  would 
you  wish  to  recall  him,  if  such  recall  was  fully  in 
your  power  ?  Could  you  consent  to  recall  him 
from  the  full  fruition  of  victory,  from  the  ac- 
tual possession  of  the  palm,  the  crown,  the  kins^- 
T 


218  MEMOIR   OF    THE 

dom,  the  throne,  to  renew  the  conflict  with  Sa- 
tan and  the  world  ?  After  he  has  reached  the 
heaven  of  eternal  joy  and  rest,  could  you  con- 
sent to  see  him  again  on  the  tempestuous  ocean, 
driven  alternately  by  the  winds  and  waves  ?  I 
know  that  you  are  not  so  selfish  as  to  wish  that 
your  dearest  friend  should  exchange  the  joys 
of  heaven  for  the  sorrows  of  earth,  or  the  full 
light  of  immortality  for  the  clouds  and  shadows 
which  so  often  envelop  the  spiritual  pilgrim  in  his 
journey  through  the  wilderness  of  this  world. 
'  Thy  Maker  is  thy  husband,  saith  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,'  and  this  heavenly  friend  is  infinitely  moi*e 
merciful  to  sympathize  under  all  our  afflictions, 
infinitely  more  powerful  to  support  under  the 
pressure  of  difficulty,  and  infinitely  more  suffi- 
cient to  supply  all  our  wants,  more  ardent  and 
unchanging  in- his  love  than  any  earthly  connex- 
ion either  is  or  can  be.  Your  dear  departed 
mother,*  when  on  earth,  often  gave  in  her  testi- 
mony that  he  is  the  Widow's  Judge,  and  now, 
in  the  light  of  heaven,  sees  both  wisdom  and 
love  in  the  removal  of  him  who  was  formerly 
dear  to  her  as  life. 

" '  Then  let  our  songs  abound, 
Let  every  tear  be  dry  ; 
We're  marching  on  Immanuel's  ground 
To  fairer  worlds  on  high.' 

♦  The  late  Mrs.  Isabella  Graham. 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  219 

"  Thus,  cistern  after  cistern  is  broken  or  im- 
bittered  for  the  gracious  and  important  design 
of  leading  us  up  to  him  who  is  a  fountain,  un- 
exhausted and  ever  open,  who  is  the  same  yes- 
terday, to-day,  and  forever.  My  dear  family 
have  ah'eady  mingled  their  tears  with  yours 
under  this  painful  providence,  and  we  unite  our 
supplications  that  the  same  hand  which  has 
opened  the  wound  may  pour  in  the  oil,  and  ad- 
minister the  healing  balm.  That  grace,  mercy, 
and  peace  may  descend  upon  you  and  yours, 
from  him  who  is  the  widow's  stay  and  the  or- 
phans' help,  is  the  prayer  of  yours  most  sin- 
cerely, A.  Proudfit." 

"To  Mrs.  Bethune." 

Among  the  coadjutors  of  Dr.  Proudfit  in  the 
good  work  of  supplying  the  spiritual  destitution 
of  the  new  settlements,  the  name  of  the  late 
General  S.  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  deserves 
to  be  mentioned  with  especial  respect.  The 
character  of  that  eminent  person,  as  distinguish- 
ed for  Christian  excellence  as  for  his  large 
wealth,  high  social  position,  and  political  influ- 
ence, is  too  well  known  to  need  our  eulogy ; 
yet  we  cannot  forbear  saying  of  him  that,  sur- 
rounded by  many  and  great  temptations  to  a 
life  of  worldliness,  he  consecrated  himself  to 
Christ  in  the  morning  of  his  days,  and  ever  af- 
terward, in  all  his  relations,  adorned  the  doctrine 


220  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

of  God  his  Saviour.  The  following  letter  is  one 
of  many  testimonies  which  might  be  given  of 
his  readiness  for  every  good  work. 

"  Salem,  January  6th,  1824. 
'•Honourable  and  esteemed  Friend, 

"  I  have  occasionally  taken  the  liberty  of  ap- 
pealing to  your  liberality,  and  never  without 
success,  and  I  trust  that  the  present  appeal  will 
not  be  resjarded  as  an  intrusion.  It  has  been 
no  inconsiderable  part  of  my  labour,  and  I  may 
add,  no  inconsiderable  source  of  enjoyment  for 
more  than  twenty  years,  to  aim  at  promoting 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  through  the  frontier 
settlements  by  the  circulation  of  religious  tracts  ; 
and  I  entertain  no  doubt  but  some  of  the  seed 
sown  over  this  barren  soil  will  bear  fruit  unto 
life  eternal.  The  most  satisfactory  assurances 
have  been  received  that  this  service  has  been 
neither  unacceptable  nor  unprofitable. 

"  It  is  my  intention  to  publish  for  free  distribu- 
tion among  them  the  following  tracts,  which 
have  already  undergone  various  editions,  viz. : 

"  1.  A  Word  to  Mothers  on  the  Religious  Edu- 
cation of  their  Children. 

"  2.  A  Word  to  Children  respecting  their  ever- 
lasting Interests. 

"  3.  An  Address  to  the  risinir  Generation. 

CD 

"  4.  An  Address  to  the  Inhabitants  of  the  fron- 
tier Settlements. 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  221 

"  5.  A  Letter  to  a  Member  of  my  Church  on 
leaving  my  pastoral  Care. 

"  6.  An  Address  to  Mothers  on  the  Importance 
of  family  Religion  when  this  is  neglected  by  the 
Father. 

"  7.  A  short  Method  of  using  a  single  Talent 
to  the  best  advantage. 

"  I  am  also  preparing  for  the  press  short  tracts 
on  the  following  subjects,  viz. : 

"  1.  On  the  Importance  of  secret  Prayer. 

"^.  The  Church  in  the  House. 

"  3.  On  the  Importance  of  attending  public 
Ordinances. 

"  4.  On  the  Advantages  of  attending  them. 

"  5.  An  Address  to  the  Teachers  of  Common 
Schools. 

"  Now,  my  dear  friend,  the  object  of  this  com- 
munication is  to  inquire  whether,  amid  the  mul- 
tiplied appeals  made  to  your  charity,  the  plan 
is  entitled  to  a  share  of  your  patronage  ?  I  trust 
you  will  excuse  me  for  making  this  appeal  to 
your  liberality,  which  must  long  ago  have  been 
exhausted  but  for  the  plenitude  of  your  resour- 
ces, and  a  heart  generous  in  the  extreme,  and 
always  prompt  in  the  employment  of  them  for 
every  noble  and  benevolent  purpose. 

"  May  the  God  of  providence  smile  upon  you, 
and  be  ever  adding  to  your  earthly  treasures  as 
they  are  expended  in  his  service,  and  to  his 
T  2 


222  xMEMOIR    OF    THE 

glory.  May  the  God  of  all  grace  minister  to 
you  from  day  to  day  those  consolations  of  his 
covenant  which  neither  your  princely  fortune 
nor  the  applause  of  the  world  can  secure.  And 
after  a  long  life  of  usefulness  and  happiness,  may 
he  give  you  an  abundant  entrance  to  the  immu- 
nities of  his  everlasting  kingdom.  This,  most 
respected  sir,  is  the  unfeigned  wish  of  your 
companion  in  the  hopes  of  religion,  and  your 
fellow-labourer  in  the  diffusion  of  the  glorious 
Gospel,  A.  P." 

The  titles  of  the  tracts  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding letter  will  serve  to  show  the  compre- 
hensive nature  of  their  author's  benevolence. 
He  was  by  no  means  a  man  of  one  idea ;  while 
his  great  concern  in  behalf  of  those  for  whose 
benefit  these  tracts  were  written  was,  that  they 
might  be  saved,  he  was,  at  the  same  time,  not 
unmindful  of  their  temporal  interests.  The 
cause  of  education  was  one  in  which  he  took  a 
deep  interest ;  he  was  well  aware  of  the  inti- 
mate connexion  between  the  school  and  the 
Church,  and  how  potent  an  auxiliary  was  the 
schoolmaster  to  the  pastor.  And  hence,  next 
to  the  enjoyment  of  religious  ordinances,  his  de- 
sires and  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  new  settlements  were  directed  to  the  se- 
curing for  them  the  means  of  education. 


REV.   DR.    PRUUUFir.  223 

The  design  of  publishing  these  tracts  was  not 
carried  into  effect,  probably  in  consequence  of 
the  formation  of  the  American  Tract  Society. 
In  the  establishment  of  this  noble  institution,  Dr. 
Proudfit  (as  might  have  been  anticipated)  most 
heartily  co-operated ;  at  the  first  annual  meet- 
mg  of  the  society,  he  appeared  upon  its  platform 
and  delivered  an  address,  in  which  he  express- 
ed his  judgment  of  the  important  place  it  holds 
among  the  numerous  benevolent  agencies  of  the 
present  day.  "  Although  I  would  not  contrast 
the  comparative  excellences  of  our  various  be- 
nevolent associations,  as  each  is  important  in  its 
own  place,  yet,  in  my  opinion,  the  society  for 
the  distribution  of  religious  tracts,  in  point  of 
utility,  occupies  a  very  prominent  position  among 
the  institutions  of  our  age  and  country.  The 
great  amount  of  good  which  these  tracts  have 
rendered  to  the  souls  of  men  can  never  be  fully 
estimated  till  the  trump  of  the  archangel  is  heard, 
and  all  the  myriads  of  the  ransomed  are  collect- 
ed, and  the  circumstances  which  first  led  them  to 
serious  reflection  are  announced.  For  my  own 
part,  while  I  thank  the  Lord  Jesus  that  in  the 
riches  of  his  grace  he  called  me  to  the  ministry, 
I  also  devoutly  adore  him  that  he  early  directed 
my  attention  to  this  labour  of  love.  More  than 
twenty  years  since,  a  small  society  was  formed 
in  our  village  for  publishing  and  circulating  tracts, 


224  MEMOIR    OF    TllK 

and  I  have  been  often  refreshed  and  enlivened 
by  hearing  of  their  success  in  winning  souls  to 
the  Saviour.  One  who  is  now  preaching  the 
salvation  of  Jesus  to  a  tribe  of  benighted  heath- 
en on  our  continent  dated  his  conversion  from 
reading  one  of  these  tracts,  which  he  accidentally 
met  with,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  The 
relation  of  the  following  fact  will,  I  trust,  be 
deemed  no  intrusion,  as  it  may  show  how  the 
disconsolate  followers  of  the  Lamb  are  comfort- 
ed and  established  by  this  exercise  of  Christian 
charity.  During  an  excursion  through  the  north- 
ern parts  of  this  state,  as  I  travelled  through  the 
woods  of  Oswegatchie,  I  noticed  in  the  depths 
of  the  forest,  far  from  the  habitations  of  men,  a 
little  hut  with  no  other  door  than  a  suspended 
blanket ;  as  I  approached  the  cottage,  a  woman 
drew  aside  the  blanket  to  see  the  stranger  that 
was  passing  along  ;  her  face  was  furrowed  with 
age,  and  still  more  by  cares  and  privations.  On 
going  into  to  her  humble  abode,  and  entering  into 
conversation  with  her,  I  found  that  she  was  one 
of  those  followers  of  Jesus  who  had  been  chosen 
and  tried  in  the  furnace  of  affliction.  Upon  in- 
quiring if  she  had  any  books  to  entertain  herself, 
excluded  as  she  was  from  the  advantages  of  re- 
ligious conversation,  and  from  the  ordinances  of 
the  sanctuary,  she  brought  me  her  library,  which 
consisted  of  the  tracts  circulated  by  our  society 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  225 

in  Salem,  together  with  that  most  excellent  little 
work  of  Boston,  viz.,  *  The  Crook  in  the  Lot.' 
A  traveller  who  had  stopped  at  her  solitary  resi- 
dence became  much  interested  in  reading  one 
of  her  tracts,  and  offered  her  in  exchange  this 
copy  of'  The  Crook.' 

"  These  facts,  to  which  many  similar  ones 
might  be  added,  are  mentioned  from  no  motives 
of,  ostentation,  and  I  trust  they  will  not  be  deem- 
ed either  impertinent  or  unseasonable  on  the 
present  occasion.  They  show  how  much  glory 
is  brought  to  our  Master,  and  how  much  joy  to 
his  dear  children,  by  this  method  of  well-doing. 
I  have  no  doubt  but  hundreds,  and  perhaps  thou- 
sands of  spiritual  pilgrims  in  the  new  settle- 
ments and  the  Canadas  have  been  cheered  by 
the  perusal  of  tracts  gratuitously  sent  forth  from 
our  villages  and  cities.  All  the  individuals  who 
have  been  thus  animated  in  their  spiritual  course 
will  never  be  known  until  they  are  met  in  the 
regions  of  bliss,  and  it  is  then  discovered  through 
whose  influence  these  little  messengers  of  con- 
solation were  sent  through  their  desolate  bor- 
ders. They  will  perhaps  mention  that  by  some 
adverse  providence  their  lot  was  cast  in  the 
wilderness,  where  the  joyful  sound  rarely  reach- 
ed them  on  the  Sabbath,  but  these  wells  of  sal- 
vation were  there  unexpectedly  opened  to  re- 
fresh their  weary  souls,  like  the  spring  which 
Hagar  found  in  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba." 
15 


226  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

The  following  sentences  descriptive  of  the 
views  and  feelings  in  which  the  Tract  Society 
originated,  are  quoted,  not  so  much  to  show  the 
catholic  spirit  of  tKeir  author,  but  because  they 
express  a  sentiment  which  many  who  once  pro- 
fessed to  act  upon  it  seem  at  the  present  time 
in  great  danger  of  forgetting. 

"  I  hail  this  event  (the  formation  of  the  A.  T.  S.) 
because  of  the  harmony  of  Christian  feeling 
which  the  measure  manifested,  and  which  it  is 
calculated  to  promote.  My  soul  is  filled  with 
emotions  too  big  for  utterance,  as  I  meet  the 
friends  of  our  common  Saviour  assembled  to 
deliberate  on  the  best  means  of  promoting  the 
common  salvation;  one  day  convened  in  the 
Bible  Society  to  consult  about  the  translation 
of  the  word  of  Truth,  or  its  distribution  among 
the  destitute  ;  on  another,  deliberating  to  what 
benighted  portion  of  the  race  to  send  the  herald 
of  salvation,  or  how  to  repair  the  desolations  of 
Zion  among  ourselves  ;  or  on  this  day  in  the 
Tract  Society  mingling  their  councils  in  select- 
ing and  sending  abroad  those  tracts  which  are, 
by  God's  blessing,  most  adapted  to  alarm,  in- 
struct, or  edify.  These  meetings  of  Christians, 
without  respect  to  sectarian  interest  or  section 
of  country,  are  animating  in  the  extreme  ;  they 
correspond  to  the  genius  of  the  Gospel,  which 
breathes  peace  on  earth ;  they  also  help  to  ex- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  227 

ercise  that  mutual  affection  and  confidence 
which  ought  to  be  cherished  by  the  followers 
of  Him  who  is  emphatically  styled  the  Prince 
of  Peace.  Those  halcyon  days  of  harmony  and 
peace  for  which  our  venerable  fathers  supplica- 
ted and  eagerly  longed  are  now  (in  measure) 
realized  by  us,  their  favoured  sons  and  success- 
ors. 

I  trust  you  will  excuse  me,  Mr.  President, 
while  through  you  I  adjure  my  fellow-labour- 
ers in  this  society,  by  all  their  solicitude  for  the 
glory  of  that  Prince  around  whose  standard  we 
are  now  rallying,  and  for  the  extension  of  his 
kingdom,  that  all  local  and  sectarian  jealousy 
be  suppressed.  Let  every  individual,  whatever 
place  he  may  occupy  in  this  institution,  organ- 
ized under  circumstances  so  auspicious,  aim  at 
keeping  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace.  God  forbid  that  the  hand  of  the  demon 
of  discord  should  in  our  age,  or  in  any  future  age, 
sunder  those  sacred  ties  by  which  we  are  united." 
During  the  twenty  years  which  have  elapsed 
smce  these  words  were  spoken,  great  changes 
have  occurred  in  the  condition  of  the  American 
Church.  Rome  has  attained  a  power  and  an 
influence  in  our  free  republic  which  at  that  day 
no  one  imagined  to  be  possible  ;  but  the  change 
which  has  taken  place  in  the  feelings  of  those 
branches  of  the  Church  which  united  in  forming 


228  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

the  Bible  and  the  Tract  Societies  is,  on  some 
accounts,  much  more  to  be  deplored  than  the 
increase  of  Romanism  in  numbers  and  influence. 
The  evil  spirit  of  division  has  been  at  work 
among  those  whose  united  efforts  should,  with- 
out ceasiiig,  be  directed  against  their  common 
enemies.  Within  the  last  ten  years  there  has 
been  a  manifest  revival  of  the  spirit  of  sect ; 
there  has  been  in  the  denominations  adverted 
to  an  increasing  tendency  to  retire  within  them- 
selves, and  to  do  individually  what  they  once 
proposed  to  attempt  conjointly.  The  Presby- 
terians and  Congregationalists  are  beginning  to 
attach  great  importance  to  their  respective  pe- 
culiarities— even  to  those  which  for  many  years 
were  regarded  as  matters  of  indifference.  Now 
no  sensible  person  will  deny  that  this  regard  for, 
the  denomination  to  which  we  belong  is  good, 
and  productive  of  good  results,  if  it  be  kept  with- 
in proper  bounds  ;  but  it  may,  on  the  other  hand, 
be  indulged  to  excess ;  we  may  become  so, 
wrapped  up  in  "  our  Church"  as  to  be  quite  re- 
gardless of  those  other  sections  of  the  visible 
Church  which,  equally  with  ourselves,  "  hold  the 
Head,  even  Christ,"  and  thus  be  practically  for- 
getful of  the  fact  that  we  have  a  common  Chris- 
tianity. In  a  time  like  the  present,  when  the 
denominational  spirit  is  growing,  there  is  danger 
lest  one  body  after  another  should  desert  that 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  229 

broad  and  noble  platform  on  which  they  have 
all  so  often  confessed  that  they  have  "  one  Lord, 
one  Faith,  one  Baptism,  one  God  and  Father 
who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all." 
Against  this  danger  it  becomes  every  catholic- 
minded  Christian  to  guard  ;  it  becomes  all  who 
love  Christ's  cause  to  labour  to  prevent  such  de- 
sertion, not  by  asking  men  to  be  indifferent  to 
any  truth,  small  or  great,  but  by  inducing  them 
to  act  upon  the  rule  sanctioned  by  the  Church's 
Head,  "  whereunto  we  have  already  attained, 
let  us  walk  by  the  same  rule,  let  us  miad  the 
same  things." 

From  a  letter  of  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Halleck  to 
Dr.  Proudfit,  dated  September  8th,  1826,  it  ap- 
pears that  some  of  the  tracts  whose  titles  are 
given  on  a  former  page,  were  among  the  earliest 
issued  by  the  committee.  "  Your  several  fa- 
vours," he  writes,  "  accompanied  by  tracts  for 
publication  by  the  American  Tract  Society,  and 
containing  suggestions  concerning  others,  have 
all  been  laid  before  the  PublishingCommittee,  and 
have  been  perused,  as  well  as  the  tracts.  For  the 
prompt  and  kind  encouragement  and  support 
which  God  has  put  it  into  your  heart  thus  to  af- 
ford to  this  rising  institution,  accept  our  grateful 
acknowledgments.  The  following  have  been 
sanctioned  by  the  committee,  viz. :  *  The  Single 
Talent  Improved ;'  *  A  Letter  addressed  to  a 
U 


230  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

Member  of  his  Congregation,'  &c.  ;  '  Maternal 
Duty,  showing  the  Importance  of  maintaining 
Family  Worship  ;'  '  A  word  to  Mothers  ;'  '  An 
Address  to  those  who  had  removed  from  his  Con- 
gregation to  the  Frontier  Settlements/ 

"  You  have  long  been  a  father  and  friend  oi 
the  Tract  cause  ;  we  rejoice  that  there  are  some 
such  in  the  land,  and  we  rely  on  an  interest  in 
your  prayers,  and  your  steady  and  long-contin- 
ued co-operation." 

Before  leaving  this  subject,  it  will  not  be  out 
of  place  to  give  Dr.  Proudfit's  views  in  regard 
to  the  "  volume  enterprise,"  an  enterprise  in 
which  the  society  has  been  honoured  to  do  vast 
good,  though  of  late  it  has  occasioned  much  con- 
troversy. They  are  expressed  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Hallock,  dated 

"  Salem,  May,  1832. 
"  Respected  Friend, 
"  Your  communication  respecting  the  circula- 
tion of  the  volumes  of  the  American  Tract  So- 
ciety was  received  last  evening.  In  my  opinion, 
the  plan  proposed  may,  under  the  divine  bless- 
ing, be  incalculably  useful,  both  as  it  respects  the 
general  interests  of  the  Church  of  God  and  the 
salvation  of  individuals.  The  WTitings  of  those 
holy  men,  so  long  honoured  for  the  conversion 
of  sinners,  thrown  among  the  mass  of  our  pop- 
ulation, may  not  only  create  a  taste  for  general 


REV.   DR.   TROUDFIT.  231 

reading,  but  may  also  tend  to  exclude  those  light, 
frothy  compositions,  which,  within  the  last  twen- 
ty years,  have  been  too  commonly  circulated,  and 
have  done  so  much  to  vitiate  the  public  taste. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  mode  by  which  a  pastor 
can  exert  his  influence  more  profitably  for  the 
promotion  of  sound  morality  and  living  piety 
among  the  people  of  his  charge,  than  by  en- 
couraging the  distribution  of  such  writings  as 
are  specified  in  your  collection,  and  I  sincerely 
wish  that  they  were  in  the  possession  of  every 
family  in  my  congregation.  Although  Baxter's 
Saints'  Rest  has  been  familiar  to  me  from  my 
boyhood,  and  hundreds  of  copies  have  passed 
through  my  hands,  yet  I  recently  read  every 
page  of  it  with  delight  to  my  own  soul,  and,  I 
trust,  with  profit  as  a  minister  intrusted  with 
managing  the  spiritual  interests  of  others.  I 
have  procured  at  different  times  copies  of  the 
*  Essays  to  do  Good,'  'Baxter's  Call,'*  Persuasives 
to  Early  Piety,'  for  the  purpose  of  loaning  them 
among  my  people,  particularly  among  the  youth, 
and  have  found  that  they  were  read  with  great 
avidity,  and,  I  believe,  with  saving  advantage. 
Indeed,  my  attention  for  more  than  forty  years 
has  been  directed  to  the  promotion  of  religion 
in  this  town  and  through  the  frontier  settlements 
by  the  circulation  of  tracts  and  volumes  on  prac- 
tical subjects,  and  the  most  gratifying  intelli- 


232  MEMOIR    OF    TiiE 

gencc  has  been  received  of  the  happy  results. 
I  will  therefore  most  cheerfully  co-operate  with 
the  society  in  the  execution  of  the  plan  propo- 
sed. I  remain  your  friend  in  the  common  Sav- 
iour, A.  Proudfit." 

Another  subject  in  which  Dr.  Proudfit  took  a 
deep  interest  was  the  spiritual  welfare  of  "  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  He  was  one 
of  the  earliest  and  warmest  friends  of  the  '*  Amer- 
ican Society  for  meliorating  the  condition  of  the 
Jews ;"  he  often  took  part  in  the  proceedings  of 
its  anniversaries,  and  on  one  occasion  delivered 
an  address  containing  sentiments  which  cannot 
be  too  earnestly  urged  upon  the  attention  of  all 
branches  of  Christ's  true  Church. 

"  Whatever  diversity  of  opinion,"  said  he, 
"may  be  entertained  of  our  obligation  to  sup- 
port other  charitable  institutions,  with  respect 
to  the  dispersed  of  Israel  there  can  be  but  one 
sentiment  and  voice.  The  moment  we  begin 
to  feel  a  degree  of  apathy  in  our  efforts  for  their 
benefit,  let  our  zeal  be  rekindled  by  the  consider- 
ation that  it  is  the  offspring  of  Abraham,  the  kin- 
dred of  Isaiah,  of  Paul,  and,  above  all,  the  kin- 
dred of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  *  according  to 
the  flesh,'  whose  spiritual  delusions  we  profess 
to  pity,  whose  conversion  we  have  associated 
to  promote.     If  the  society  designed  for  their 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  233 

relief  were  neglected,  nay,  if  it  be  not  fostered 
by  our  warmest  wishes,  our  most  fervent  pray- 
ers, our  liberal  contributions,  our  united,  unceas- 
ing exertions,  such  neglect  would  be  an  indel- 
ible stain  upon  the  character  of  the  Gentile 
churches.  That  nation  is  most  emphatically 
our  benefactor ;  and  through  their  hands,  as  the 
sacred  depository,  the  precious  boon  of  pardon, 
adoption,  and  eternal  life,  is  this  evening  tender- 
ed for  your  acceptance  and  mine. 

"  In  deliberating  about  the  recovery  of  '  the 
lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel,'  we  are  not 
coolly  to  ask  what  obstacles  are  to  be  surmount- 
ed, or  what  pecuniary  expense  must  be  incurred. 
The  only  question  to  be  considered  is  this,  are 
the  Jews  to  be  brought  in  ?  shall  all  Israel  be 
saved  ?  And  with  respect  to  the  certainty  of 
this  event,  it  is  a  most  animating  truth,  that  all 
the  prophets  and  apostles  of  the  Lamb  have,  in 
succession,  given  their  united  and  most  explicit 
testimony.  True,  they  beheld,  with  mournful 
liearts,  a  long,  dreary  night  collecting  and  brood- 
ing over  their  ungrateful,  impenitent  people ;  their 
city  was  to  be  laid  in  ruins ;  their  temple — the 
pride  of  their  country,  and  the  admiration  of  the 
world — was  to  be  levelled  with  the  ground,  so  that 
one  stone  of  the  magnificent  edifice  should  not 
be  left  upon  another ;  their  tribes,  outcasts  from 
their  God,  should  remain  '  many  days  without  a 
U  8 


234  MEMOIR    UF    THE 

king,  without  a  prince  ;'  no  urim  and  thummim 
should  any  longer  communicate  the  divine  will ; 
but,  through  the  gloom  of  that  long  and  cheer- 
less night,  they  beheld  the  dawn  of  an  auspicious 
morning :  for  it  is  written,  '  afterward  shall  the 
children  of  Israel  return  and  seek  the  Lord  their 
God ;  they  shall  seek  the  Lord  and  his  good- 
ness in  the  latter  day.  My  tabernacle,  also,  shall 
be  with  them  ;  yea,  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they 
shall  be  my  people  ;  and  the  heathen  shall  know 
that  I  the  Lord  do  sanctify  Israel  when  my 
sanctuary  shall  be  in  the  midst  of  them  forever.' 
"  With  these  sure  words  of  prophecy  that  Is- 
rael shall  be  saved,  what  remains  for  us  but, 
from  motives  of  philanthropy  to  them  as  mem- 
bers of  our  common  family,  from  feelings  of  grat- 
itude to  them  as  our  munificent  benefactors,  in 
obedience  to  the  command  of  our  Master,  in 
reliance  upon  his  promise,  what  remains  for  us, 
I  say,  but  to  persevere  in  our  labours  of  love 
for  a  people  so  long  favoured  of  Jehovah  ?  We 
need  not  entertain  a  single  doubt  of  our  success 
in  this  holy  and  honourable  enterprise.  The 
same  '  zeal  of  the  Lord  of  hosts'  which  display- 
ed his  justice  in  executing  vengeance  on  their 
unbelief,  will  also  display  the  overflowings  of  his 
mercy  in  gathering  Uiem  from  the  four  winds  of 
heaven,  whither  they  are  scattered.  The  hand 
of  divine  indignation  lopped  off"  this  '  branch,'  and 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  235 

has  permitted  it  to  lie  for  ages  withered  and  peel- 
ed, without  sap  or  verdure,  but  the  hand  of  mercy 
will  ere  long  '  graft  it  again  into  the  true  vine,' 
causing  it  to  flourish  to  the  glory  of  his  grace 
in  the  eyes  of  an  astonished,  adoring  world.  Is 
not  this  prospect  as  '  life  from  the  dead?'  Come, 
then,  and  while  we  are  devising  the  means  of 
their  salvation,  let  us  ask  a  coal  of  the  same  fire 
by  which  their  souls  were  inflamed  while  they 
deliberated  about  ours.  Let  us  look  that  the 
mantle  of  their  Elijahs  may  be  caught,  at  least, 
by  some  of  us  Elishas,  their  successors  in  office. 
Let  us  go  forth  to  the  same  work,  animated  by 
the  same  spirit,  until  not  merely  in  Palestine, 
but  through  every  region  of  the  earth,  *  instead 
of  the  thorn  the  fir-tree  shall  come  up,  and  in- 
stead of  the  brier  the  myrtle-tree,  which  may 
be  to  the  Lord  for  a  name,  for  an  everlasting  sign 
which  shall  not  be  cut  off'.'  Israel's  God  smile 
benignly  on  all  the  exertions  which  are  made  to 
promote  the  spiritual  benefit  of  Israel ;  and  to 
thee,  Jehovah,  in  covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  their  God  and  our  God,  sl>all  be  as- 
cribed by  all  the  ransomed  of  their  tribes  glory 
in  the  highest,  world  without  end,  Amen." 

For  many  years  the  society  before  which  the 
address,  of  which  an  extract  has  been  given,  was 
delivered,  seemed  to  be  like  a  withered  plant. 
The  prophecies  concerning  Israel  appear  to  have 


236  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

been  but  imperfectly  understood  by  those  who 
had  the  chief  management  of  its  concerns  ;  their 
plans  were  not  wisely  laid,  and  the  melancholy 
result  of  their  failure  was  the  gradual  extinction 
of  the  interest  in  behalf  of  Israel  which  had  been 
awakened  in  the  American  Church.  But,  though 
the  plant  was  withered,  the  God  of  Israel  did 
not  permit  it  utterly  to  die.  Within  the  last 
few  years  the  society  has  been  revived  ;  its 
grand  aim  now  is,  not  to  establish  a  home  for 
the  Jew  in  a  land  where  the  Lord  never  design- 
ed that  he  should  permanently  dwell,  but  simply 
to  testify  to  him  "  repentance  towards  God,  and 
faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

In  the  year  1829  the  American  Bible  Society 
adopted  the  memorable  resolution  to  supply  the 
whole  destitute  population  of  the  United  States 
with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  That  the  idea  of  this 
good  work  originated  in  the  mind  of  Dr.  Proud- 
fit  is  more  than  we  are  entitled  to  assert ;  this 
much,  however,  is  certain,  that  he  was  one  of 
the  earliest,  most  laborious,  and  successful  agents 
in  accomplishing  the  grand  and  benevolent  de- 
sign. From  the  correspondence  which  passed 
between  the  Washington  County  Society  and 
the  managers  of  the  parent  institution,  it  appears 
that  to  this  auxiliary — for  many  years  one  of  the 
most  efficient  in  the  country — belongs  the  hon- 
our of  having  been  the  first  to  propose  the  meas- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  237 

ure.  Dr.  Proudfit  was  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  county  society  to  bring 
the  subject  before  the  managers  in  New- York, 
and  in  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Brigham,  under 
date  of  February  4th,  1829,  he  says:  "At  our 
annual  meeting,  held  in  January,  1828,  agents 
were  appointed  to  have  the  whole  county  ex- 
plored, that  the  number  of  families  destitute  of 
the  Scriptures  might  be  ascertained,  and  their 
wants  supplied.  At  our  meeting  in  January, 
1829,  our  society  has  taken  a  more  expanded 
view,  and  contemplated  the  destitute  families 
not  merely  of  our  county,  but  throughout  the 
United  States,  and  expressed  a  solicitude  to  have 
them  supplied  without  the  least  unnecessary  de- 
lay. They  have  therefore  appointed  a  commit- 
tee to  communicate  to  you  their  wishes,  and, 
through  you,  to  suggest  to  the  parent  society  at 
its  next  anniversary  the  adoption  of  a  resolu- 
tion to  have  every  destitute  family  supplied  with- 
in two  years.  They  have  directed  us,  at  the 
same  time,  to  pledge  the  sum  of  five  thousand 
dollars  towards  the  execution  of  the  purpose,  to 
be  paid  within  two  years  from  the  adoption  of 
the  aforesaid  resolution ;  and  if  this  sum  is  not 
considered  equal  to  our  proportion,  only  under- 
take the  design,  and  relying  on  the  God  of  prov- 
idence, we  will  increase  it. 

"  You  will  excuse  us,  a  remote  auxiliary,  in 


238  MEMOIR    OF   THE 

making  this  suggestion,  but  we  assure  you  that 
no  ordinary  anxiety  was  evinced  by  our  so- 
ciety to  have  the  measure  immediately  adopt- 
ed ;  and,  from  the  experiment  which  has  been 
already  made  in  supplying  towns,  counties,  and 
even  states,  we  are  fully  persuaded  there  is  not 
only  ability,  but  liberality  enough  in  the  friends 
of  our  Master  to  aid  you  in  the  achievement  of 
this  mighty  and  magnificent  project.  Only  let 
the  motion  be  brought  forward  at  the  next  an- 
nual meeting,  and  it  will  be  adopted,  and  in  an 
humble  reliance  on  the  Divine  sufficiency  it  will 
be  accomplished.  '  The  earth  is  to  be  filled  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,'  and  he  who  hath 
spoken  the  word  has  the  silver  and  the  gold,  and 
the  hearts  of  all  who  possess  them,  at  his  sover- 
eign disposal.  And  is  not  the  design  worthy  of 
an  experiment  ?" 

The  sum  which  the  Washington  County  aux- 
iliary engaged  to  raise  is  a  large  one,  especial- 
ly when  it  is  considered  that  the  county  is  not 
of  great  extent,  and  that  its  population  is  almost 
exclusively  agricultural ;  yet  the  pledge  thus 
given  was  redeemed  within  the  time  specified. 
These  circumstances  were  probably  not  without 
their  influence  in  inducing  the  managers  in  New- 
York  to  entreat  Dr.  Proud  fit  to  undertake  an 
agency  on  their  behalf  Such  an  application 
was  made  to  him,  and,  bavins:  obtained  the  con- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  239 

sent  of  his  congregation,  he  devoted  himself  to 
the  v^ork.  In  the  conclusion  of  the  report  of 
his  labours  during  the  first  year,  he  says:  "  Upon 
a  survey  of  the  year,  with^its  labours  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  society,  so  far  as  the  divine  will  can 
be  ascertained  from  the  aspect  of  providence, 
my  Master  has  smiled  on  the  undertaking  ;  and 
this  short  period  has  been  connected  with  oc- 
currences, the  impression  of  which  cannot  be  ef- 
faced in  time  or  eternity.  My  congregation 
readily  consented  to  my  acceptance  of  the  ap- 
pointment, and  some  of  them,  with  tears,  told  me 
not  to  return  from  New-England  until  m^  work 
was  accompHshed.  On  my  occasional  visits 
home  during  the  season  they  always  received 
me  with  joy,  and  again  parted  with  me  without 
a  murmur.  I  have  travelled  in  the  course  of 
the  year  about  three  thousand  miles,  in  five  dif- 
ferent states,  attended  about  fifty  public  meet- 
ings, and  had  intercourse  with  Christians  of  al- 
most all  denominations,  and  witnessed  but  one 
feeling  of  respect  for  the  enterprise  in  which  we 
are  engaged."  During  the  second  year  of  his 
agency  he  again  visited  nearly  all  the  Eastern 
and  Middle  States. 

A  brief  passage  of  his  ordinary  diary  of  this 
period  may  here  be  introduced,  as  showing  that, 
engrossed  as  he  was  with  the  great  object  of 
his  agency,  and  of  course  exposed  to  manifold 


240  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

distractions,  he  still  carried  about  with  him  the 
same  habits  of  meditative  devotion  which  he 
maintained  when  enjoying  the  quietness  of  home. 
It  is  dated 

"  Rockingham,  Vemiont,  June  27th.  Set  out 
a  few  days  since  to  visit  some  of  the  Eastern 
States  in  relation  to  the  supply  of  the  destitute 
of  the  United  States  with  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  being  stopped  on  my  journey  by  the  failure 
of  the  stage,  desired  to  set  apart  some  time  for 
remembering  all  the  way  by  which  the  Lord,  my 
covenant  God,  hath  led  me  these  forty  years  in 
the  ^Iderness.  Although  ten  thousand  thou- 
sand mercies,  altogether  unmerited,  have  been 
heaped  upon  me,  a  poor,  insignificant  worm  of 
the  dust,  mercies  which  it  will  be  the  pleasure 
and  employment  of  eternity  to  recount,  yet  there 
are  four  memorable  occasions  in  which  the  Lord, 
in  his  infinite  condescension,  visibly  and  most 
remarkably  appeared  in  my  behalf,  disappoint- 
ing my  fears  and  exceeding  my  hopes.  One 
instance  of  his  interposition  occurred  in  July, 
1791,  while  I  was  a  student  in  Columbia  Col- 
lege;  another  in  September,  1815;  another  in 
May,  1822  ;  and  another  during  the  present 
month.  Upon  all  these  occasions  my  character 
and  comfort  as  a  man,  and  my  usefulness  as  a 
minister,  appeared  deeply  involved  in  the  issue. 
The  cloud  hung  over  my  head  portentous  and 


REV.    DR.    PKOUDFIT.  241 

awful,  threatening  to  burst  forth  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  my  peace  and  reputation,  while,  to  human 
appearance,  there  was  no  possibility  of  escape  : 
perplexity  and  ruin  were  seemingly  unavoid- 
able ;  but,  O  my  God  !  how  unsearchable  are 
thy  councils,  and  thy  ways  are  past  finding  out ; 
my  limited  wisdom  was  completely  confounded  ; 
I  could  devise  no  method  of  deliverance  ;  yet,  by 
means  of  which  I  had  no  conception,  thou  hast 
interposed,  and  wrought  salvation  for  me.  After 
permitting  me  to  be  long  tossed  upon  the  bois- 
terous ocean,  and  my  ship  to  be  covered  with 
wave  after  wave,  thou  didst  speak,  and  lo  !  there 
was  a  great  calm.  In  all  these  instances,  I  have 
found,  in  my  own  delightful  experience,  that  as 
the  heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are 
thy  ways,  my  God,  higher  than  my  ways,  and 
thy  thoughts  than  my  thoughts.  And  this  morn- 
ing, at  the  recollection  of  those  repeated  inter- 
positions in  my  behalf,  I  desire  devoutly  to  set 
up  my  ebenezer,  and  say,  '  hitherto  hath  Jeho- 
vah helped ;'  they  are  the  Lord's  doings,  dis- 
plays of  adorable  sovereignty,  of  all-controlling 
power,  of  unsearchable  wisdom,  and  infinite 
condescension  and  love.  They  are  now,  and 
must  remain  forever,  marvellous  in  my  eyes. 
*  O  !  that  my  words  were  written  in  a  book,  that 
they  were  graven  with  an  iron  pen  in  the  rock 
16  X 


242  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

forever,  because  in  the  day  when  I  cried  thou 
answeredst  me.' — Psahii  cxxxviii.,  3. 

"  These  dispensations  I  would  mark  down  for 
my  own  support  and  encouragement  in  every 
future  emergency,  and  for  the  support  of  any 
afflicted  follower  of  Jesus  who  may  read  them 
from  age  to  age.  *  It  is  better  to  trust  in  the 
Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  man  ;  it  is  bet- 
ter to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence 
in  princes ;'  bless  the  Lord,  ye  his  angels,  for 
these  manifestations  of  his  mercy  to  me,  who  am 
less  than  the  least  of  all  saints." 

How  animating  and  instructive  are  these  rec- 
ords of  God's  gracious  interposition  in  behalf  of 
his  people.  In  all  ages  they  have  testified  in 
the  language  of  one  of  old,  who  had  been  sub- 
jected to  many  an  appalling  danger,  and  expe- 
rienced many  a  wonderful  rescue,  "  if  it  had  not 
been  the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side  when  men 
rose  up  against  us,  then  had  they  swallowed  us 
up  quick.  Our  help  is  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
who  made  heaven  and  earth."  And  one  of  the 
great  purposes  of  Christian  biography  is  to  show 
that  all  the  promises  of  our  God  are  like  himself, 
"  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever." 

After  his  return  home  from  the  arduous  and 
fatiguing  labours  in  behalf  of  those  who  were 
suffering  "  a  famine,  not  of  bread  and  water,  but 
of  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  Dr.  Proudfit's  labours 


REV.  DR.    PROUDFIT.  243 

in  his  own  congregation  appear  to  have  been  at- 
tended with  a  special  influence  from  on  high. 
Salem,  in  common  with  so  many  other  parishes 
in  various  parts  of  the  land,  enjoyed  a  time  of 
refreshing  from  on  high  during  the  memorable 
years  1830,  31. 

The  following  extract  from  the  diary  of  this 
period  is  worthy  of  being  introduced,  if  for  no 
other  reason,  at  least  for  the  striking  incident 
which  it  records : 

"  Sabbath  Evening,  May  21th.  This  day  have 
dispensed  the  ordinance  of  the  Holy  Supper  with- 
out assistance  from  any  of  my  brethren;  felt 
much  depressed  for  several  days  previous,  ow- 
ing to  a  variety  of  occurrences,  but  the  Lord,  in 
his  great  goodness,  disappointed  my  fears.  Al- 
though the  weather  was  unfavourable,  yet  the 
assembly  was  very  large,  and  I  experienced  un- 
usual freedom  in  every  part  of  the  service,  and 
an  uncommon  solemnity  pervaded  the  audience. 
Now,  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  thy  grace  I  here  re- 
cord it,  for  my  own  encouragement,  and  the  en- 
couragement of  others  who  serve  thee  in  the 
ministry  of  reconciliation,  that  thou  art  a  very 
present  help  in  the  time  of  need.  Oh  the  riches 
of  thy  forbearance,  that  thou  art  not  dealing  with 
me  according  to  my  unbelieving  fears.  I  am 
ashamed  this  afternoon,  and  blush  for  my  dis- 
trust, notwithstanding  all  thou  hast  promised  in 


244  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

thy  word,  and  all  that  I  have  frequently  experi- 
enced of  thy  faithfulness  to  thy  promises.  Truly 
they  shall  not  be  ashamed  that  wait  on  thee. 
None  of  all  the  apostate  family  of  man  is  more 
insignificant  or  undeserving  than  I  am  ;  yet,  O 
Lord !  how  bountifully  thou  art  dealing  with  me ; 
how  liberally  have  I  shared  of  thy  goodness,  both 
in  a  temporal  and  spiritual  respect ;  how  great 
was  thy  condescension  in  calling  me  to  the  min- 
istry, in  supporting  me  so  long  in  the  discharge 
of  its  duties;  in  preserving  me,  notwithstanding 
all  my  self-sufficiency,  from  the  pollution  of  the 
world  ;  in  continuing  peace  in  the  congregation, 
and,  I  trust,  in  crowning  my  labours  with  a  de- 
gree of  success  both  towards  sinners  and  saints. 

*  Return  unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul,  for  the  Lord 
hath  dealt  bountifully  with  thee.'  I  would  this 
day  be  more  entirely  thine.     Amen  and  Amen. 

*'  On  the  Monday  which  immediately  succeed- 
ed the  dispensation  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  occurrence  took  place  :  A 
few  minutes  previous"  to  the  commencement  of 
our  public  services  on  the  morning  of  the  Sab- 
bath, that  reproof  of  our  Saviour  to  his  apostle, 

*  O  thou  of  little  faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt  V 
was  powerfully  impressed  upon  my  mind,  and 
appeared  to  open  so  satisfactorily  to  my  under- 
standing, that  I  felt  constrained  to  adopt  it  as 
the  subject  of  my  discourse.     During  the  pray- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  245 

er  and  other  public  services,  my  mind  was  par- 
ticularly directed  tov^ards  those  who  were  walk- 
ing in  darkness  and  pressed  down  by  the  bur- 
den of  their  sins,  and  I  felt  enlargement  in  ex- 
hibiting Jesus  with  his  suitableness  and  sufficien- 
cy, as  anointed  of  the  Father  to  bind  up  the 
broken  heart,  and  comfort  the  mourner.  On  the 
Monday  following,  a  young  gentleman,  an  en- 
tire stranger,  called  upon  me  and  desired  con- 
versation ;  he  informed  me  that  he  had  once  made 
a  profession  of  religion,  but,  through  the  snares 
of  the  world,  and  the  influence  of  unholy  asso- 
ciates, he  had  lost  his  first  love,  and,  for  a  time, 
had  turned  aside  from  the  holy  commandment ; 
that  for  several  days  he  had  been  labouring  un- 
der awful  remorse  of  conscience,  especially  for 
his  guilt  in  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  him ; 
that  he  had  reached  our  village  on  Saturday 
evening,  and  during  his  attendance  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, the  prayers  and  all  the  other  services  seem- 
ed immediately  suited  to  his  situation ;  that  his 
burdened  soul  obtained  such  relief  by  a  contem- 
plation of  the  offices  and  fulness  of  the  Saviour, 
that  he  felt  a  strong  desire  to  renew  his  covenant 
engagements  over  the  symbols  of  his  body  and 
blood,  but,  being  a  stranger,  did  not  feel  at  liberty 
to  come  forward.  He  apologized  for  the  free- 
dom he  had  taken  in  calling,  but  mentioned  that 
he  could  not  retire  from  the  village  without  in- 
X2 


246  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

forming  me  of  the  fact ;  he  waited  to  attend  our 
family  devotions,  when  I  marked  for  him  a  va- 
riety of  promises  adapted  to  his  exercises.  About 
a  year  afterward,  in  passing  through  our  village, 
he  called  upon  me  a  second  time,  when  he  ap- 
peared to  remain  steadfast  in  his  Christian  pro- 
fession, and  to  be  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord 
and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Learn 
from  this  occurrence,  O  my  soul,  the  importance 
of  living  by  faith,  of  exercising  an  entire  depend- 
ence on  the  influences  of  the  divine  Spirit  for  di- 
rection. The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth. 
He  is  an  adorable  Sovereign  in  the  selection  of 
instruments  for  the  execution  of  his  purposes  of 
mercy,  and  for  the  time  when,  and  the  manner 
in  w^hich  he  will  give  efficacy  to  their  adminis- 
tration. Our  Lord  must  pass  through  Samaria 
to  impart  instruction  to  a  woman  of  that  coun- 
try ;  Philip  the  Evangelist  must  go  down  to  the 
desert  of  Judea,  that  he  might  preach  Jesus  to 
the  Ethiopian  eunuch ;  Paul  must  abide  in  Cor- 
inth, because  much  people  were  to  be  saved  in 
that  city.  Although  preparations  for  the  pulpit 
should  be  made  with  diligence,  yet  if  the  Spirit, 
in  his  sovereignty,  apparently  directs  to  another 
subject,  let  not  his  influences  be  resisted  ;  he  can 
assist  at  the  moment  for  the  accomplishment  of 
his  gracious  purposes.  While  I  desire  hereafter 
to  have  an  Isaac  ready  on  the  altar,  yet  if  a  lamb 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  247 

is  unexpectedly  presented  for  a  burnt  offering, 
let  me  not  dare  to  refuse  it." 

There  is  another  very  striking  incident  of  Dr. 
Proudfit's  life  which  may  be  introduced  in  this 
connexion,  and  is  thus  related  by  his  son,  Professor 
Proudfit :  "  One  day  a  man  called  on  my  father 
who  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
He  appeared,  in  conversation,  to  be  a  man  of 
piety,  and  of  deep  spiritual  experience.  His  ob- 
ject was  to  obtain  books  and  tracts  to  take  with 
him  to  the  distant  West,  whither  he  was  about 
to  emigrate.  My  father  inquired  his  reason  for 
removing  from  a  region  where  he  enjoyed  the 
privileges  of  religion,  which  must  be  so  pre- 
cious to  him.  He  replied  that  it  pained  him  to 
the  heart  to  leave  the  ordinances  and  the  society 
of  his  Christian  friends,  but  that  his  large  and 
growingfamily  obliged  him  to  do  so.  It  appear- 
ed to  be  '  the  will  of  the  great  King  of  Heaven 
that  he  should  not  own  a  dollar  clear,  nor  a  foot 
of  land ;'  he  was  content  to  make  both  ends  meet ; 
but,  as  matters  stood,  he  could  not  even  do  this. 
He  was  requested  to  wait  a  few  days,  in  the  hope 
that  something  would  turn  up  to  his  advantage. 
Within  that  time,  a  beautiful  farm  of  about  one 
hundred  acres,  in  a  retired  and  romantic  situa- 
tion, and  about  two  miles  distant  from  my  fa- 
thers house,  was  offered  for  sale.  It  was  pur- 
chased by  my  father,  and  James  Shields  (for 


248  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

such  was  the  person  referred  to)  was  placed  upon 
it  on  shares.  Thei'e,  for  many  years,  the  good 
man '  walked  with  God,'  and  proved  by  his  holy 
and  zealous  life  a  rich  blessing  to  the  neighbour- 
hood. To  my  father  he  was  an  invaluable  spir- 
itual counsellor  ;  often,  in  his  seasons  of  despond- 
ency, he  would  mount  his  horse  and  ride  away 
to  James  Shields,  and  derive  strength  and  com- 
fort from  '  hearty  counsel'  with  one  who  '  dwelt 
in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High.'  Not  a 
stroke  of  a  pen  ever  passed  between  them  du- 
ring the  many  years  in  which  they  were  related 
as  landlord  and  tenant.  My  father  used  joking- 
ly to  say  that  if  there  was  an  odd  grain  of  corn, 
he  knew  that  James  Shields  would  give  it  to 
him.  He  exerted  himself  much  to  procure  the 
old  soldier's  pension,  and  through  the  kind  offices 
of  Captain  Bleecker,  of  New- York,  under  whom 
he  had  served  in  the  war,  he  succeeded. 

"  When  the  tidings  were  received  that  the 
pension  had  been  allowed,  great  was  his  joy,  and 
large  the  prospective  appropriations  which  he 
made  to  this  and  the  other  benevolent  object. 
This  was  afterward  a  standing  topic  of  jest  with 
my  father  at  the  expense  of  his  old  friend,  for  he 
enjoyed  his  pension  only  one  year.  When  the 
oath  was  exacted  of  the  pensioner  that  he  could 
not  obtain  a  subsistence  without  it,  he  gave  it  up, 
saying  that  he '  was  a  poor  man,  but,  by  the  help 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  249 

of  the  great  King  of  Heaven,  he  had  alv^ays  got 
along,  and  he  knew  he  always  should.'  This 
good  man  was  in  the  habit  of  retiring  to  the 
woods  near  his  house,  and  spending  much  time 
in  prayer.  He  often  had  a  distinct  and  certain 
expectation  of  future  events,  which,  in  these  sea- 
sons of  solitary  communion  with  God,  had  been 
impressed  upon  his  mind  through  the  medium 
of  a  passage  of  Scripture,  or,  as  he  expressed 
it,  '  had  come  to  him  in  a  promise.'  He  was 
deeply  read  in  the  lore  of  the  old  divines ;  and 
well  do  I  remember  his  attitude  as  he  sat,  at  the 
resting-hour  of  noon  or  in  the  evening,  with  his 
old  spectacles  on,  poring  over  a  volume  of  Bos- 
ton or  the  Erskines.  Often  has  my  father  said 
of  him,  as  his  bent  and  ill-clad  figure  has  passed 
our  house  on  his  way  to  the  church  (of  which 
he  was  the  sexton),  that  he  would  outshine  the 
kings  and  nobles  of  this  world  in  the  day  when 
the  righteous  should  '  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in 
the  kingdom  of  their  Father.' 

"  He  was  farther  remarkable  as  a  very  early 
example  of 'total  abstinence.'  He  had  brought 
the  maxims  of  the  camp,  in  this  particular,  to  the 
farm,  and  had  always  thought  that  a  little  spirit 
was  quite  indispensable,  especially  in  harvest- 
time  ;  but  one  day,  when  at  work  in  his  field, 
a  respectable  farmer,  who  had  been  an  exem- 
plary member  of  the  Church,  passed  by  in  a  state 


250  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

of  intoxication.  James  Shields,  with  his  accus- 
tomed '  plainness  of  speech,'  accosted  him,  and 
*  reasoned  of  temperance'  so  closely  and  pun- 
gently  that  the  other  exclaimed, '  well,  I  will  give 
it  up  if  you  will.'  He  was,  to  his  great  surprise, 
promptly  taken  at  his  word,  and  James  Shields 
never  tasted  spirituous  liquor  from  that  hour, 
substituting  merely  a  cup  of  tea  at  dinner  for  his 
accustomed  stimulus,  and  finding  himself,  as  he 
often  said,  quite  as  able  to  bear  labour  and  expo- 
sure as  before.  He  entered  into  his  rest  in  the 
year  1830,  and  was  followed  to  the  grave  by 
one  of  the  largest  funerals  ever  seen  in  Washing- 
ton county." 

During  the  summer  of  1833,  Dr.  Proudfit  spent 
some  weeks  in  Orange  county,  New- York,  in  be- 
half of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Associ- 
ate Reformed  Church,  which  had  been  revived 
after  a  suspension  of  about  seven  years,  and  es- 
tablished at  Newburgh.  At  a  later  period  he  re- 
sumed the  work,  and  continued  to  devote  to  it 
as  much  time  as  his  other  duties  would  allow. 
In  this  connexion  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  in 
1835  he  was  chosen  by  the  Synod  to  be  Profess- 
or of  Pastoral  Theology,  and,  for  a  while,  he 
w^as  in  the  hopes  of  being  able  to  spend  so  much 
time  at  Newburgh,  during  each  session  of  the 
seminary,  as  would  have  sufficed  for  the  deliv- 
crv  of  a  short  course  of  lectures  in  that  branch 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  251 

of  theological  instruction  ;  but  the  nature  of  his 
other  engagements  was  such  as  to  prevent  the 
carrying  out  this  design,  and  he  accordingly  re- 
signed the  office  in  1837.  At  the  same  time,  it 
should  be  observed,  that  he  continued  to  feel  a 
deep  interest  in  the  institution,  frequently  attend- 
ing and  taking  part  in  the  examination  of  the 
students,  and  in  other  ways  labouring  to  promote 
its  welfare. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1833,Dr.Proud- 
fit  was  earnestly  entreated  by  the  Young  Men's 
Bible  Society,  in  the  City  of  New- York,  to  lend 
them  his  aid  in  raising  a  considerable  sum  which 
they  had  pledged  themselves  to  contribute  for 
the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  foreign  lands. 
He  yielded  to  their  request,  "  impressed,"  as  he 
observes  in  his  diary,  "  with  the  magnitude  of 
the  undertaking,  as  it  involved  the  extension  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  and  the  salvation  of 
the  inhabitants  of  heathen  lands."  At  a  most  in- 
clement season  of  the  year  he  proceeded  to  the 
city,  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  was  enabled 
very  speedily  to  accomplish  the  object  of  his 
visit.  Under  date  of  January  12th,  1834,  he 
writes,  "  The  God  of  the  Bible  has  singularly 
smiled  upon  the  enterprise,  and  has  opened  the 
hearts  of  his  dear  children  in  this  city  to  contrib- 
ute promptly  and  liberally.  Scarcely  three 
weeks  have  elapsed  since  the  work  (of  raising 


252  MEMOIR    OP    THE 

$10,000)  was  commenced,  and  the  pledge  is  sub- 
stantially redeemed."  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Managers  held  January  13th,  1834,  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  were  adopted,  viz.  : 

"  1.  That  this  Board  feel  deeply  the  success 
with  which  God  has  crowned  the  undertaking 
of  this  society  to  raise  the  sum  of  $10,000  for 
the  distribution  of  the  Bible  in  foreign  lands. 

"  2.  That  under  God  we  are  indebted  for  that 
success  to  the  prayerful  and  untiring  exertions 
of  our  venerable  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Proudfit. 

"3.  That  Dr.  Proudfit*be  presented  with  a 
certificate  of  life  membership,  and  a  copy  of  the 
best  publication  of  the  American  Bible  Society, 
as  an  acknowledgment  in  part  of  our  grateful 
sense  of  his  services." 

In  1835  Dr.  Proudfit  was  induced  to  ask  for 
a  dissolution  of  the  relation  which  had  so  long 
and  happily  existed  between  himself  and  the  con- 
gregation of  Salem.  This  step  was  taken  in 
consequence  of  his  election  to  the  office  of  sec- 
retary of  the  New- York  Colonization  Society. 
We  are  unable  to  state  the  particular  reasons 
which  led  him  to  retire  from  a  charge  with  which 
he  had  been  connected  for  forty  years,  but  we 
may  be  sure  from  his  whole  character,  and  es- 
pecially his  habitual  prayerfulncss,  that  so  impor- 
tant a  step  was  not  taken  without  repeated  and 
earnest  seeking  for  divine  guidance.     Neither 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  253 

can  we  suppose  him  to  have  taken  it  v^^ithout  the 
fullest  conviction  that  the  Lord's  voice  to  him 
was,  Go.  One  thing,  however,  is  very  certain, 
that  his  removal  from  Salem,  and  his  entrance 
into  another  sphere  of  labour,  was  neither  oc- 
casioned nor  accompanied  by  any  abatement  of 
the  affectionate  regards  of  his  congregation,  as 
appears  from  the  correspondence  which  took 
place  between  himself  and  the  members  of  his 
session  a  short  time  after  his  establishment  in  his 
new  office.  The  high  estimation  in  which  he 
was  held  by  the  whole  community  of  the  town 
of  Salem,  a  community  in  which  he  had  spent 
his  youth,  his  mature  manhood,  and  his  old  age, 
is  manifested  in  the  series  of  resolutions  adopted 
at  a  general  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village.  These  proceedings  well  deserve  a  place 
in  this  memoir,  for  they  are  honourable  alike  to 
the  community  of  Salem,  and  to  the  venerable 
pastor  who  had  so  long  gone  out  and  in  among 
them,  testifying  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 
Testimonies  such  as  this  to  a  minister  removing 
to  a  new  field  of  labour  are  by  no  means  com- 
mon. Indeed,  it  is  truly  melancholy  to  reflect 
upon  the  numerous  instances  which  have  occur- 
red within  the  last  few  years  in  which  the  pas- 
toral relation  has  been  dissolved  under  circum- 
stances of  the  most  painful  kind.  Not  a  few 
ministers,  after  many  years  of  faithful,  successful, 


254  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

and  self-denying  labour,  have  been  cast  off  by 
congregations  abundantly  able  to  sustain  them, 
and  to  supply  their  lack  of  service  growing  out 
of  the  infirmities  of  age.  No  doubt,  in  some  cases, 
ministers  who  are  thus  treated  are  themselves 
in  some  measure  to  blame,  by  dropping  their 
habits  of  study  as  they  advance  in  years  ;  still, 
we  cannot  help  regarding  this  as  one  of  the  de- 
plorable results  of  the  low  view  of  the  relation 
between  pastor  and  people  which  many  persons 
and  many  congregations  have  been  accustomed 
to  take. 

The  proceedings  already  mentioned  were  had 
within  a  few  weeks  after  Dr.  Proud  fit's  retire- 
ment from  his  pastoral  charge :  they  are  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  In  pursuance  of  public  notice  previously 
given,  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Salem  met 
at  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whiton's  church,  on  Thursday, 
the  25th  of  November,  1835,  to  manifest  their 
respect  for  the  unqualified  worth  and  distinguish- 
ed services  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Proudfit. 

"  The  meeting  was  organized  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Rev.  John  Whiton,  Chairman,  and 
John  M'Murray,  Esq.,  Secretary.  The  object 
of  the  meeting  was  then  stated,  and  a  committee 
was  appointed,  consisting  of  the  following  gentle- 
men :  Messrs.  Crary,  Welles,  Whiton,  M'Mur- 
ray, M'Alister,  and  Coon  ;  who,  having  retired, 
returned  and  reported  as  follows : 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  255 

"  *  It  is  not  of  Dr.  Proudfit  merely  as  pastor  of 
the  Associate  Reformed  Church  of  this  village 
that  we  speak,  nor  is  it  as  the  great  advocate  for 
instructing  and  Christianizing  the  heathen,  nor 
is  it  as  the  active,  benevolent,  and  liberal  mem- 
ber of  the  Bible,  Missionary,  and  other  societies, 
but  it  is  to  pay  him  our  sincere  respects  as  our 
neighbour  and  friend,  who,  after  more  than  forty 
years  spent  among  us  in  faithfully  exerting  him- 
self for  the  good  of  mankind,  is  now  called  to 
act  upon  a  more  extended  theatre  as  the  agent 
of  the  Colonization  Society  in  the  City  of  New- 
York  ;  and  although  he  has  been  but  a  short  time 
absent,  we  cannot  but  perceive  the  vacancy 
which  that  absence  has  occasioned  ;  his  efforts 
having  heretofore,  in  a  pre-eminent  degree,  been 
directed  to  the  literary  advancement  of  the  rising 
generation,  his  departure  will  occasion  to  them 
a  loss  which  they  cannot  expect  will  be  soon 
supplied.  The  able  and  distinguished  men  who 
have  been'  nurtured  and  partially  educated  in 
this  place  during  the  last  forty  years,  known  in 
the  pulpit,  on  the  bench,  at  the  bar,  and  as  the 
heads  of  our  seminaries  of  learning,  have  been 
favoured  by  his  untiring  exertions.'  The  com- 
mittee also  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  unanimously  adopted. 

"  Resolved,  That,  entertaining  the  highest  sen- 
timents of  respect  for  the  private  worth  of  the 


256  MEMOIR    OF    'J'llE 

Rev.  Dr.  Proudfit,  and  of  gratitude  for  his  dis- 
tinguished public  services,  and  deeply  regretting 
his  departure,  we  tender  to  him  the  cheerful  ex- 
pression of  our  warmest  personal  regard,  and 
our  fervent  wishes  that,  in  every  sphere  of  be- 
nevolence in  which  he  may  be  called  to  move, 
he  may  long  enjoy,  what  w^e  believe  to  be  the 
object  of  his  highest  ambition  and  most  ardent 
aspirations,  the  luxury  of  doing  good. 

"  Resolved,  That  while,  in  the  discharge  of  his 
present  duties,  it  may  be  necessary  for  him  to 
reside  in  the  City  of  New- York,  we  shall  at  all 
times  greet  his  return  among  us  with  grateful 
emotions. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meet- 
ing be  signed  by  the  chairman  and  secretary  of 
the  same,  and  forwarded  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Proud- 
fit,  and  published. 

(Signed),  "  John  Whiton,  Chairman. 

"  John  M'Murray,  Secretary.'' 

To  this  communication,  so  grateful  to  his  feel- 
ings, coming  as  it  did  not  merely  from  the  peo- 
ple of  his  own  charge,  but  also  from  persons  con- 
nected with  other  branches  of  the  Church,  Dr. 
Proudfit  sent  the  following  reply : 

"  Colonization  Rooms,      > 
"  New-York,  Dec.  10th,  1835.  S 

"  Gentlemen, 
"I  have  received  and  read,  with  no  ordinary 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  257 

emotions,  the  resolutions  adopted  at  your  meet- 
ing on  the  26th  uU.  The  approbation  of  the 
honourable  and  the  good  is,  to  a  generous  mind, 
the  highest  reward  of  a  temporal  nature  to  which 
it  can  aspire.  The  very  place  where  your  meet- 
ing was  held,  a  church  connected  with  a  differ- 
ent religious  denomination,  is  an  additional  cir- 
cumstance enhancing  in  its  value  this  testimony 
of  esteem  and  affection,  as  it  shows  that  in  the 
present  age,  when  dissensions  are  so  mournfully 
disturbing  the  peace  and  dishonouring  the  name 
of  the  Christian  Church,  the  '  unity  of  the  spirit' 
has  been  so  happily  preserved  among  us. 

"  Every  wish  for  my  personal  welfare  express- 
ed in  your  communication  is  cordially  recipro- 
cated for  you  and  yours  ;  and,  indeed,  not  only 
for  the  citizens  of  Salem,  but  of  the  county  of 
Washington,  to  whom,  for  their  many  testimonies 
of  respect,  I  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  can- 
not be  cancelled  in  time. 

"  My  removal  to  another  field  of  labour,  which 
in  your  partiality  you  have  pronounced  a  loss, 
did  not  arise  from  any  want  of  attachment  to 
you,  or  of  solicitude  for  your  interests,  or  from 
the  prospect  of  increasing  my  temporal  comfort, 
as  I  never  anticipate  happier  days  on  earth  than 
I  enjoyed  going  in  and  out  among  you.  I  trust 
that  I  have  been  impelled  by  other  and  higher 
considerations  in  entering  the  station  I  now  oc- 
17 


S58  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

cupy ;  by  motives  of  sympathy  with  afflicted  Af- 
rica, whose  children  in  both  hemispheres  have 
been  scattered  and  peeled  by  the  ruffian  hand  of 
unprincipled  white  men.  I  would  consider  it  an 
unspeakable  honour  to  be  employed  as  the  in- 
strument of  advancing  the  interests  of  an  insti- 
tution which,  in  my  opinion,  originated  in  the 
purest  benevolence ;  which,  amid  foul  detraction, 
and  unprovoked  and  unremitting  opposition,  has 
already  succeeded  in  replacing  on  the  shores  of 
Africa  thousands  of  her  emancipated  sons,  and 
is  yet  destined,  under  the  divine  benediction,  not 
only  to  meliorate  the  condition  of  her  enslaved 
population  among  us,  but  ultimately  to  diffuse 
the  blessings  of  civilization  and  Christianity 
among  her  native  tribes. 

"  Respected  friends,  for  that  large  measure 
of  comfort,  personal  and  domestic,  which  I  have 
long  enjoyed,  I  feel  deeply  indebted  to  your  pray- 
ers, and  the  highest  favour  which  I  have  now  to 
solicit  is  their  continuance ;  and  '  that  mercy,  and 
grace,  and  peace  may  be  multiplied  on  you,'  and 
the  churches  with  which  you  are  respectively 
connected,  is  the  unfeigned  wish  of  your  servant 
for  Jesus'  sake, 

(Signed),         "Alexander  Proudfit. 

*'To  Rev.  John  Whiton,  John  M'Murray,  Esq.,  Hon.  John 
Crary,  Messrs.  W.  A.  Welles,  Archibald  M'Alister,  and 
Rufus  Coon." 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  259 

The  correspondence  between  the  session  of 
the  Church  of  Salem  and  Dr.  Proudfit  is  of  a 
somewhat  later  date  than  that  of  the  proceed- 
ings already  detailed.  It  may  be  proper  to  men- 
tion that  this  delay  probably  arose  from  the  pe- 
cuUar  circumstances  of  the  congregation  for 
about  two  years  after  the  doctor's  removal. 
The  Rev.  James  Lillie  was  installed  as  successor 
about  the  close  of  the  same  year  (1835)  ;  but,  in 
the  course  of  the  ensuing  summer,  Mr.  Lillie  re- 
moved to  Rhinebeck,  having  received  and  ac- 
cepted a  call  from  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church 
of  that  place.  Another  vacancy  occurred,  which 
continued  until  the  settlement  of  the  Rev.  Eben- 
ezer  Halley,  in  the  autumn  of  1838  ;  and,  at  the 
first  meeting  of  the  session  after  his  installation, 
the  following  letter,  written  by  an  excellent  mem- 
ber, whose  name  occurs  in  an  earlier  part  of 
this  work,  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  sent  to 
their  former  pastor : 

"  Salem,  17th  September,  1838. 
"  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

"  We,  the  elders  of  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church  of  Salem,  at  our  first  meeting  under  our 
present  pastor,  reflecting  on  all  the  ways  in  which 
the  Lord  our  God  hath  led  us  and  our  fathers 
these  many  years  in  this  wilderness,  the  afflic- 
tions we  have  endured,  the  evils  we  have  felt  or 
feared,  and  the  deliverances  we  have  experi- 


260  MEMOIR    OP   THE 

enced,  are  compelled  to  exclaim, '  the  Lord  hath 
done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad  ; 
he  hath  remembered  his  mercy  and  his  truth  to- 
wards us ;'  and  while  we  would  say, '  not  unto  us, 
O  Lord  !  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  give 
glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  thy  truth's  sake,'  we 
would  in  nowise  forget  the  instruments  that  he 
hath  employed  in  doing  his  work  ;  and  especial- 
ly we  delight  in  the  remembrance  of  your  long 
and  faithful  labours  among  us ;  '  we  know  after 
what  manner  you  have  been  with  us  at  all  sea- 
sons, and  have  kept  nothing  back  from  us  that 
was  profitable  to  us,  but  have  showed  us,  and 
have  taught  us  publicly  and  from  house  to  house, 
that  by  the  space  of  more  than  forty  years  you 
have  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night  and 
day,  with  tears.'  And  not  only  while  our  con- 
nexion as  pastor  and  people  continued  did  we 
enjoy  your  ardent  and  unremitting  exertions,  but 
since  that  connexion  was  dissolved  we  have  ex- 
perienced many  tokens  of  affection  and  labours 
of  love,  of  which  we  hope  ever  to  retain  a  grate- 
ful recollection  ;  but  we  were  especially  grati- 
fied that  it  was  so  ordered  by  the  Head  of  the 
Church  that  we  should  enjoy  your  labours  and 
fellowship  on  the  late  occasion  of  our  communion 
and  the  installation  of  our  present  pastor.  It  is 
indeed  pleasing  to  reflect  that  our  former  belov- 
ed pastor,  with  whom  we  had  so  long  taken  sweet 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  261 

counsel  together,  and  walked  unto  the  house  of 
God  in  company ;  who  had  so  long  been  deliv- 
ering to  us  messages  of  mercy,  and  breaking  to 
us  the  bread  of  life  ;  under  whose  ministrations 
we  have  so  often  said,  *  it  is  good  to  be  here,' 
should  once  more  dispense  unto  us  the  memori- 
als of  our  Redeemer's  death,  and  officially  place 
over  us  the  man  of  our  choice  as  his  successor. 
May  the  spirit  of  Elijah  rest  upon  Elisha  !  And 
now,  we  most  fervently  pray  that  your  useful 
labours  may  be  long  continued ;  that  the  even- 
ing of  your  days  may  be  unclouded  and  serene  ; 
and  that,  when  at  some  remote  period  you  shall 
have  finished  your  course,  you  may  receive  your 
Divine  Master's  welcome,  *  well  done,  good  and 
faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord,'  and  '  having  turned  many  to  righteous- 
ness,' shine  as  a  star  in  the  kingdom  of  our  com- 
mon Redeemer  for  ever  and  ever.  With  senti- 
ments of  high  esteem  and  cordial  affection,  we 
remain  yours,  in  our  common  Lord, 
"  Thomas  Collins,  John  Beaty, 
"  Isaac  Getty,  James  B.  Stevenson, 

"  John  M'Murray,        David  B.  Thompson. 
"  Thomas  Stevenson, 
"  To  the  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  Proudfit." 

Dr.  Proudfit's  reply  to  this  affectionate  letter 
is  as  follows : 


262  MEMOIR    Ul'    THE 

"  New- York,  October  16th,  1838. 
"  Brethren  very  dearly  Beloved, 
"  With  emotions  which  I  have  not  language 
to  express,  I  read  your  communication  of  Sep- 
tember 17th,  and  if  I  have  been  honoured  in  the 
least  degree  as  the  instrument  of  winning  souls 
to  the  Saviour,  or  encouraging  the  weary  pil- 
grim in  his  march  to  Zion,  I  hope  you  will  unite 
with  me  in  ascribing  to  sovereign  mercy  the  un- 
divided glory.  Merely  to  become  partaker  of' 
*  so  great  salvation'  incurs  a  debt  of  gratitude 
which  the  services  of  eternity  cannot  cancel. 
But  how  much  is  this  debt  enhanced  by  the  addi- 
tional honour  of  becoming  instrumental  in  bring- 
ing fellow-immortals  to  the  participation  of  a 
boon  so  precious  ?  With  much  more  propriety 
than  even  the  apostle  I  may  exclaim, '  to  me,  who 
am  less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,  is  this  grace 
given,  that  I  might  preach  to  fellows-sinners  the 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.'  It  is  free  grace 
which  imparts  the  ministerial  endowment ;  it  is 
grace  which  furnishes  the  organ  to  communi- 
cate this  gift ;  it  is  grace  which  presents  an  open- 
ing for  the  profitable  exercise  of  the  ministry, 
and  it  is  grace  which  ultimately  gives  efficacy 
to  our  administration  on  the  souls  either  of  sin- 
ners or  of  saints.  Whether  the  labours  perform- 
ed by  me  have  been  in  any  degree  useful  among 
you,  or  to  what  extent,  the  day  of  final  retribu- 


REV.  DR.  PllOUDFlT.  263 

tion  will  reveal ;  yet  Salem,  with  the  Church  of 
which  you  are  '  the  spiritual  overseers/  never 
rises  to  my  recollection  without  many  and  most 
delightful  associations,  as  the  residence  where 
blessings  were  poured  into  my  cup  not  to  be 
enumerated  in  time.  Probably  few  ministers 
in  the  militant  Church  were  ever  favoured  with 
more  uninterrupted  peace,  or  a  larger  share  of 
comfort,  than  I  enjoyed  during  my  continuance 
among  you,  and,  therefore,  every  expression  of 
respect  and  attachment  to  me,  breathed  in  your 
letter,  is  most  cordially  reciprocated  on  my  part 
to  you  and  yours,  and  to  all  the  Church.  Forty- 
four  years  have  elapsed  this  month  since  the 
commencement  of  my  imperfect  services  in  Sa- 
lem, and  upon  each  retrospective  survey  of  that 
long  period  I  am  truly  lost  in  adoring  wonder 
at  the  condescension  and  forbearance  of  my 
Master.  How  many  duties  have  been  omitted 
which  might  have  been  performed,  and  how 
much  imperfection  has  attended  those  which  I 
have  attempted  to  discharge  ?  How  much  might 
I  have  done  for  my  own  spiritual  profit  by  abound- 
ing more  in  devotional  exercises,  in  prayer,  in 
reading  the  Scriptures,  and  devout  contemplation 
of  the  Saviour's  fulness  ?  and  how  much  might  I 
have  done  for  your  edification  by  cultivating  with 
greater  diligence  each  ministerial  gift,  and  preach- 
ing to  you  the  Gospel  with  more  simplicity,  and 


264  MEMOIR   OF    THE 

sincerity,  and  fervour ;  also  by  attention  to  the 
instruction  of  beloved  youth '  in  the  things  which 
involve  their  eternal  peace  V  Yet,  notwithstand- 
ing innumerable  omissions,  their  spiritual  nurture 
was  not  altogether  neglected ;  and  entreat  them, 
from  me,  *  to  remember  him,'  although  absent, 
who  has  dispensed  to  many  of  them  the  ordi- 
nance of  holy  baptism,  and  has  '  spoken  to  them, 
from  their  infancy,  the  word  of  the  Lord  ;'  and 
let  it  be  your  prayer  and  mine  that  the  incor- 
ruptible seed  occasionally  scattered  among  them 
in  our  family  visitations  and  social  conferences 
may  be  watered  by  the  dews  of  divine  grace, 
and  in  the  Lord's  good  time  spring  up  in  their 
conversion  and  salvation. 

"  You  are  pleased  to  speak  of  my  fidelity  *  go- 
ing in  and  out  among  you.'  I  had  illustrious  ex- 
amples animating  me  to  diligence  in  this  work — 
my  own  venerable  father,  and  the  ever-to-be-re- 
vered Dr.  Clark,  my  predecessors  in  the  ministry ; 
and  you  also,  my  beloved  brethren,  in  your  sta- 
tion, are  also  '  encompassed  about  with  a  cloud 
of  witnesses,'  with  those  holy  men  who  preceded 
you  in  the  capacity  of  ruling  elders.  I  am  fully 
persuaded  that,  for  any  measure  of  comfort  or 
success  which  may  have  accompanied  my  min- 
istry, I  was  greatly  indebted  to  their  prayers, 
and  holy  conversation,  and  diligence  in  visiting 
the  flock.    O,  be  entreated,  then,  bv  all  the  solici- 


REV.   DR.    PROUDFIT.  265 

aide  which  you  feel  for  your  present  respected 
pastor,  and  the  edification  of  souls  committed  to 
his  trust,  to  sustain  him  by  frequency  and  fervour 
in  the  discharge  of  this  duty ;  be  helpers  to  him 
by  your  prayers  and  countenance,  as  Aaron  and 
Hur  were  to  Moses:  this  will  be  of  incompara- 
bly greater  importance  to  him  than  any  fulsome 
adulation  of  his  person,  or  extravagant  eulogi- 
ums  on  his  public  administrations.  I  would 
therefore  respectfully  recommend  that  you,  the 
eldership,  set  apart  an  hour  every  fortnight,  or 
every  week,  if  consistent  with  other  avocations, 
for  the  purpose  of  uniting  your  supplications 
for  the  divine  blessing  on  him  and  his  labours  in 
the  congregation.  Such  arrangements  might, 
perhaps,  interfere  with  the  prosecution  of  your 
secular  occupations,  but  this  temporal  loss  would 
be  overbalanced  a  thousand  fold  by  the  recep- 
tion of  divine  consolation  in  your  own  souls,  and 
in  the  comfort  and  usefulness  of '  him  who  is  over 
vou  in  the  Lord.'  Then  he  will  appear  among 
you,  both  in  the  week  and  on  the  Sabbath,  a 
burning  and  a  shining  light,  and  you  and  others 
will  rejoice  in  his  light.  Often  recollect  those 
venerable  men  who  preceded  you  in  the  station 
of  ruling  elders  :  they  founded  that  Church  in  the 
wilderness,  and  afterward  fostered  it  with  their 
prayers  and  untiring  exertions,  and  to  you,  their 
successors  in  office,  it  is  now  committed.  Cher- 
Z 


266  MEMOIR    OF    TflE 

ish  by  your  prayers,  by  your  diligence  in  *  going 
in  and  out  among  the  people/  the  sacred  trust. 
Your  fathers  and  mine,  who  once  superintended 
that  flock,  are  now  singing  together  '  the  song 
of  Moses  and  of  the  Lamb' — I  cannot  entertain 
a  doubt  in  relation  to  either  of  them — and  if  we 
are  faithful  to  our  Lord,  we  will  soon  meet  them 
in  that  world  where  '  sorrow  and  sighing  are 
done  away  ;'  where  '  they  who  minister  and 
they  who  are  ministered  unto'  shall  rejoice  to- 
gether, and  *  God  will  be  all  in  all.' 

"  I  have  already  exceeded  the  limits  prescri- 
bed for  this  letter,  and  perhaps  have  trespassed 
on  your  patience,  but  I  cannot  do  justice  to  my 
own  feelings  without  appropriating  the  language 
of  Paul  on  a  similar  occasion :  '  O  ye  Corinthi- 
ans, our  mouth  is  open  to  you,  our  heart  is  en- 
larged.' Finally,  brethren,  farewell ;  be  perfect, 
be  of  good  comfort,  be  of  one  mind,  live  in  peace  ; 
and  that  the  God  of  love  and  peace  may  dwell 
in  your  hearts,  and  houses,  and  every  family  of 
that  Church,  which  is  still  embalmed  in  my  warm- 
est affections,  is  the  prayer  of  your  former  pas- 
tor and  present  unfeigned  friend, 

"  Alexander  Proudfit. 
-   To  Thomas  Collins,  Isaac  Getty,  John  M'Murray,  Thomas 

Stevenson,  John  Beaty,  James  B.  Stevenson,  David  B. 

Thompson. 


11  Ev.  DR.  pKouDirr.  207 

"  This  letter,  if  you  think  proper,  may  be  read 
to  the  congregation,  with  an  earnest  desire  for 
an  interest  in  your  prayers  and  theirs." 

The  preceding  correspondence  affords  a  beau- 
tiful illustration  of  those  words  of  the  apostle, 
Heb.,  xiii. :  *  remember  them  who  have  had  the 
rule  over  you,  who  have  spoken  unto  you  the 
word  of  God/  To  be  thus  affectionately  re- 
membered at  the  close  of  a  long  period  of  faith- 
ful service,  or  when  called  to  remove  into  some 
other  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard,  is,  however, 
by  no  means  the  lot  of  all  the  ministers  of  Christ. 
Not  a  few  have  gone  down  to  the  grave  in  sor- 
row, produced  by  the  ingratitude  of  those  to 
whom  they  had  spoken  the  word  of  God  ;  while 
in  other  cases,  the  remembrance  of  the  good 
which  they  had  been  the  instruments  of  accom- 
plishing has  been  entirely  obliterated  by  vexa- 
tion at  their  removal  to  other  spheres. 

During  the  summer  of  1839  there  was  a  fam- 
ily reunion  at  Salem,  in  the  pleasant  old  family 
mansion,  which  can  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  ever  had  the  happiness  of  enjoying  the  hos- 
pitality of  which,  for  so  many  years,  it  was  the 
seat.  The  fact  is  thus  noticed  and  improved  by 
its  venerable  head : 

''Salem,  August  2d,  1839.  After  a  long  sep- 
aration from  each  other,  the  different  membei's 


268  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

of  my  family  are  here — Mrs.  P.,  my  children, 
with  the  exception  of  one,  and  all  my  grand-chil- 
dren ;  and  we  are  here  crowned  with  every  cir- 
cumstance of  comfort  which  this  world  can  af- 
ford ;  they  are  all  in  the  enjoyment  of  health . 
my  dear  grand-children  are  favoured  with  the 
various  senses  of  the  body  in  perfection,  and  with 
rational  powers  susceptible  of  improvement 
under  the  divine  blessing.  And  now.  Lord,  as 
thou  hast  in  much  mercy  endowed  them  with 
these  external  advantages,  wilt  thou  not  impart 
to  them  the  more  excellent  gift,  even  the  unction 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  They  have  been  all  bapti- 
zed with  water — may  they  all  be  taught  of  thy 
Spirit,  and  honoured  to  be  useful  in  their  gener- 
ation. Thou  knowest.  Lord,  that  the  highest 
glory  I  ask  in  their  behalf  is  that  they  may  be 
instrumental  in  promoting  thy  glory  in  the  gen- 
eration in  which  their  lot  is  cast ;  when  my  lips 
are  sealed  in  the  silence  of  the  grave,  may  theirs 
be  employed  in  celebrating  thy  praise,  in  vindi- 
cating thy  cause,  and  in  recommending  to  fel- 
low-sinners the  great  salvation  purchased  by  thy 
dear  Son.  I  ask  not  for  either  of  them  the  hon- 
our, or  the  wealth,  or  the  pleasures  of  the  pres- 
ent world,  but  oh  !  that  each  of  them  may  be 
enabled  to  choose,  with  Mary,  the  good  part 
which  shall  never  be  taken  away,  and  to  spend 
and  be  spent  for  thee.    This  I  consider  their  most 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  269 

Encumbent  duty,  their  highest  glory ;  and  I  know, 
from  long  experience,  that  it  is  their  greatest, 
their  only  happiness.  O  Lord,  thou  wilt  have 
a  seed  to  serve  thee  so  long  as  the  sun  and  moon 
endure,  and  is  it  too  much  to  plead  this  honour 
in  their  behalf?  Thy  grace  has  given  the  prom- 
ise, '  I  will  pour  my  blessing  upon  thy  seed,  and 
my  Spirit  upon  thine  offspring ;' '  my  Spirit,  which 
is  upon  thee,  and  my  words,  which  I  have  put 
in  thy  mouth,  shall  not  depart  out  of  thy  mouth, 
nor  out  of  the  mouth  of  thy  seed,  nor  out  of  the 
mouth  of  thy  seeds'  seed,  from  henceforth  even 
forever.'  And  these  promises  I  now  plead,  as 
they  are  yea  and  amen  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Thou  hast  given  thy  Spirit  to  my  forefathers  du- 
ring generations  past ;  wilt  thou  not,  also,  in 
thine  abundant  mercy,  give  it  to  my  dear  off- 
spring through  generations  which  may  follow 
me  ? 

"  I  anticipated  much  pleasure  in  the  prospect 
of  having  my  children  collected  under  the  roof 
where  I  had  spent  about  forty  years  of  my  pil- 
grimage, in  the  enjoyment  of  a  measure  of  hap- 
piness rarely  exceeded  or  equalled  in  this  world 
of  trial ;  and  although  my  cup  is  now  overflow- 
ing with  blessings,  yet  I  find  a  want,  a  vacuity 
in  every  earthly  enjoyment.  When  will  I  learn 
to  cease  from  the  creature,  and  rejoice  exclusive- 
ly in  the  Creator  ?  When  will  I  learn,  with  the 
Z  2 


270  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

same  emotions,  to  appropriate  tiie  language  of 
the  prophet  ?  '  The  Lord  is  my  portion,  saith  my 
soul,  therefore  will  I  trust  in  him.  Whom  have 
I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  and  there  is  none  upon 
the  earth  that  I  desire  besides  thee.  Thy  fa- 
vour, O  Lord,  is  life,  and  thy  loving-kindness  is 
better  than  life'  Health,  wealth,  reputation, 
friends,  and  all  things  terrestrial,  are  streams 
which  may  soon  be  dried  up,  or  cisterns  which 
may  suddenly  be  broken  or  imbittered  ;  but  in 
the  fellowship  of  thy  love  and  in  the  consola- 
tions of  thy  covenant  there  are  joys  substantial 
and  satisfying — a  portion  large  as  our  desires, 
and  lasting  as  our  duration — fulness  of  joy,  and 
pleasures  forever  more." 

Amid  the  din  and  bustle  incident  to  a  resi- 
dence in  such  a  city  as  New- York,  and  the  dis- 
tracting cares  and  outdoor  labours  of  the  new 
office  into  which  Dr.  Proud  fit  had  entered,  he 
still  preserved  those  habits  of  meditation  on  Di- 
vine things,  and  that  fondness  for  social  prayer 
by  which  he  had  been  distinguished  while  a  ru- 
ral pastor.  We  give  one  extract  from  the  diary 
in  confirmation  of  this  statement,  and  also  be- 
cause it  contains  a  notice  of  a  kind  of  prayer- 
meeting,  the  value  of  which,  it  is  feared,  is  but 
little  understood  by  Christians. 

'' NeiV'York,  November  Gih,  1839.  Agreed 
with  two  Christian  friends  to  spend  this  fore- 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  271 

noon  in  the  exercises  of  fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer, 

"  1st.  In  making  confession  of  all  our  sins,  and 
in  exercising  repentance  and  humiliation  on  ac- 
count of  them  ;  these  sins  we  acknowledge  to  be 
innumerable,  both  private  and  public,  the  omis- 
sions of  duty,  and  the  cold,  formal  discharge  of 
it.     Ps.  xxxii.,  5,  51. 

"  2d.  In  looking  to  a  covenant  God  for  the  re- 
mission of  all  our  trespasses,  that  in  the  riches 
of  his  grace  he  v^ould  pardon  them  through  the 
merits  of  that  Jesus  in  whom  he  can  be  just, 
and  the  justifier  of  those  who  believe  in  him  ; 
that  for  his  sake  all  our  transgressions,  however 
multiplied  or  aggravated,  may  be  forgiven,  and 
not  be  visited  upon  us  or  ours  in  the  infliction  of 
judgments  either  temporal  or  spiritual.  Micah, 
vii.,  18,  19.     Rom.,  iii.,  24,  25. 

*'  3d.  In  supplication  that  God  would  prosper 
his  work  in  every  part  of  the  world,  that  he 
would  send  the  means  of  salvation  where  they 
are  not  enjoyed,  and  follow  them  with  his  bless- 
ing where  they  have  been  already  extended ;  that 
he  would  raise  up  other  labourers  for  gathering 
in  the  harvest,  and  hasten  on  the  period  when, 
in  every  place,  incense  shall  be  offered,  and  a 
pure  oflfering.     Luke,  xi.,  9.     Habk.,  iii.,  2. 

"  4th.  That  he  would  undertake  the  manage- 
ment of  all  our  interests,  and  especially  of  that 


272  MEMOIR   OF    THE 

matter  in  which  these  two  friends  are  more  im- 
mediately concerned.  Read  over  Philip.,  iv.,  6  ; 
1  Peter,  v.,  7  ;  Luke,  xii.,  6,  7,  and  other  por- 
tions of  Scripture  authorizing  us  to  cast  all  our 
cares  upon  our  heavenly  Father ;  also  read  He- 
brews, 1st  chapter;  Daniel,  9th,  and  other  in- 
stances in  which  the  Lord,  in  answer  to  special 
prayer,  had  interposed  for  his  children,  and 
wrought  deliverance  in  their  behalf. 

"  5th.  In  prayer  that,  wherein  these  friends  in 
Christ  may  have  erred  in  the  matter  referred  to, 
the  Lord  may  pardon ;  that,  wherein  others  may 
have  had  a  sinful  instrumentahty  in  injuring  them, 
the  Lord  would  grant  repentance — Job,  xlii.,  10 ; 
and  that  the  hand  of  God  may  be  seen  in  the 
final  issue  of  the  affair,  so  that  glory  may  result 
to  him,  and  the  faith  of  his  children  may  be  con- 
firmed. 

"  6th.  That  the  God  of  Providence  would 
open  doors  of  usefulness  and  comfort  for  these 
Christian  friends,  and  that  this  afflictive  dispen- 
sation may  be  overruled  for  their  spiritual  profit. 
'  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  thee,  and  the 
remainder  of  that  wrath  thou  wilt  restrain.' 
*  We  know  that  all  things  shall  work  together 
for  good  to  them  that  love  him.' 
"  Order  to  he  observed  in  our  social  meeting  for 

prayer  with  the  friends  formerly  mentioned. 

"  1st.  Read  a  variety  of  verses  which  prom- 


REV.    DR.    PRUUDFIT.  273 

ise  the  Divine  presence  on  such  occasions.  Ex., 
XX.,  24.     Matt.,  xviii.,  26.     Acts,  xvi.,  25. 

"2d.  To  read  over  some  scriptures  which 
furnish  a  warrant  for  approaching  God  in  the 
hour  of  affliction,  as  able  and  wiHing  to  give  re- 
hef.     Ps.  ix.,  9,  10  ;  1.,  15. 

"  3d.  To  read  various  promises  which  secure 
a  happy  issue  to  every  dark  dispensation,  when, 
by  faith  and  prayer,  we  look  to  the  Lord  for  the 
sanctified  use  of  it.  Isai.,  xlix.,  23.  Lam.,  iii., 
25,  26.     Ps.  xxxi.,  15. 

"  4th.  Read  over  passages  in  the  Bible  which 
show  the  absolute  supremacy  and  dominion  of 
God  over  all  agents  and  elements.  Ps.  ciii., 
cxv.,  cxxxv. 

"  5th.  Concluded  with  reading  remarkable  in- 
terpositions of  Divine  providence,  as  related  by 
Flavel  and  others." 

Besides  the  meeting  referred  to  in  the  prece- 
ding extract,  there  was  another,  consisting  of  the 
members  of  a  few  Christian  families  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  his  residence.  It  was  small, 
unobtrusive,  unknown,  except  to  the  few  who 
were  accustomed  to  attend ;  and  often  have  we 
heard  some  friends  speak  of  the  delightful  hours 
spent  in  that  little  praying  circle,  where  all  were 
acquainted  and  sympathized  with  each  other. 
We  would  not  underrate  the  value  of  the  more 
formal  assemblies  for  social  devotion  ;  thev  are 
18 


274  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

a  most  important  means  of  holding  back  that  tide 
of  worldhness  to  whose  inflowing  the  Church,  in 
cm'  large  towns  and  cities,  is  pecuharly  expo- 
sed. At  the  same  time,  we  believe  that  unspeak- 
able additional  advantages  would  result  to  the 
Church  if  Christian  neighbours  would  only  act 
upon  that  precious  promise  of  the  Redeemer, 
"  Whatsoever  any  two  of  you  shall  agree  to  ask, 
it  shall  be  done  of  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 
The  success  of  a  meeting  for  prayer  is  not  de- 
pendant upon  the  largeness  of  the  number  pres- 
ent at  it ;  yet  how  prevalent  is  the  feeling  among 
Christian  congregations  that,  when  the  attend- 
ance at  such  meetings  is  greatly  reduced,  the 
meetings  themselves  might  as  well  be  abandon- 
ed. Such  was  not  the  sentiment  of  Dr.  Proud- 
fit  :  he  often  observed,  when  quoting  the  prom-. 
ise  already  mentioned,  and  which  might  be  call- 
ed one  of  his  favourite  passages,  that  the  num- 
ber stated  in  this  divine  encouragement  to  social 
pi'ayer  was  the  lowest  possible. 

While  in  the  service  of  the  Colonization  So- 
ciety, Dr.  Proudfit  was  necessarily  compelled  to 
make  frequent  journeys  to  different  and  distant 
parts  of  the  state.  The  following  extracts  of 
the  diary  are  introduced,  not  merely  to  show 
with  what  diligence  he  laboured  to  maintain  in 
all  places  a  spiritual  frame  of  mind,  but  also  for 
the  light  they  cast  on  the  subject  of  Christian 
experience  : 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  275 

^\January  \Sth,  1837.  Have  resolved  to  set 
apart  this  forenoon  for  fasting  and  special  prayer, 

"  1st.  That  the  Lord,  in  his  mercy,  would 
give  me  more  of  his  'Spirit,  and  prosper  his 
Vfork  in  my  own  soul,  and  thus  render  me  more 
extensively  useful  in  his  Church  and  my  gener- 
ation.    Ps.  Ixviii.,  18,  19.     Luke,  xi.,  9-13. 

"  2d.  That  he  would  communicate  the  Spir- 
it, in  his  sanctifying  influences,  to  many  of  the 
youth  in  our  country,  and  particularly  to  those 
who  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  liberal 
education,  and  prepare  them  to  go  forth  as  la- 
bourers for  gathering  in  the  harvest.  Matt.,  ix., 
37,  38. 

"  3d.  That  he  would  arrest  the  progress  of 
error  in  his  Church,  and  restore  to  her,  in  its 
purity,  that  faith  which  was  once  delivered  to 
the  saints. 

"  4th.  That  he  would  bless  abundantly  all 
those  means  which  have  been  devised  for  send- 
ing the  gospel  among  the  nations,  and  hasten 
the  glory  of  the  millennial  day. 

"  New-York,  February  Sd,  1839.  Have  been 
unusually  distressed  through  the  day  with  a  heart 
deceitful,  and  prone  to  wander  from  that  God 
who  is  worthy  of  my  undivided  affections  ;  it  is 
more  uncontrollable  a  thousand  fold  than  the 
winds  of  heaven  or  the  waves  of  ocean  ;  often 
have  I  aimed  at  fastening  my  attention  on  some 


276  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

promise  of  the  gospel,  or  some  perfection  of  God, 
or  some  excellence  of  the  Saviour,  or  some  of- 
fice of  the  Spirit,  but  instantaneously  and  irre- 
sistibly, some  vain,  worldly  thought  has  darted 
in,  and  interrupted  my  spiritual  peace.  The 
good  that  I  would,  I  do  not,  and  the  evil  that  I 
would  not,  that  I  do.  Surely,  with  greater  pro- 
priety, with  deeper  emotions  of  shame  and  sor- 
row than  the  prophet,  I  may  exclaim,  *  The 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  despe- 
rately wicked  :  who  can  know  it  V  There  is  a 
mystery  of  iniquity  remaining  within  me,  which 
none  but  an  omniscient  God  can  explore  ;  an 
abyss  of  depravity,  which  none  but  he  can  fath- 
om or  comprehend.  I  have  been  long  in  the 
school  of  Christianity  ;  many  golden  opportuni- 
ties I  have  enjoyed  for  receiving  instruction  ; 
many  resolutions  I  have  formed  for  keeping  my 
heart  with  greater  diligence :  but  how  slow  has 
been  my  progress  in  the  attainment  of  knowl- 
edge ;  how  inconsiderable  my  advancement  in 
holiness — in  love  to  God,  and  devotion  to  his 
service.  Truly  I  am  a  babe  in  Christ,  less  than 
the  least  of  all  saints — a  most  unprofitable  la- 
bourer in  his  vineyard." 

"  Oxford,  Chenango  county,  September  \2th, 
1839.  Visited  this  village  in  behalf  of  the  Col- 
onization Society,  and  to-day  have  been  much 
indisposed,  but  found  a  great  degree  of  submis- 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  277 

sion  to  the  will  of  my  heavenly  Father  ;  could 
say  w^ith  filial  resignation,  Lord,  not  my  will,  but 
thine  be  done  ;  was  enabled  to  rejoice  in  Jeho- 
vah in  all  the  infinite  perfections  of  his  nature  ; 
in  his  almighty  power,  which  could  raise  me  up 
from  this  bed  with  infinite  ease  ;  in  his  unchan- 
ging love,  which  is  never  alienated  for  a  moment 
from  the  children  whom  his  grace  has  adopted  ; 
in  his  unerring  wisdom,  which  knows  when  to 
humble  me,  and  when  to  exalt — in  what  manner 
to  correct,  and  how  long  to  continue  the  correc- 
tion ;  in  his  mercy,  which,  with  more  than  the 
tenderness  of  a  father,  sympathizes  with  his  chil- 
dren in  all  their  afflictions.  Here  I  am  alone, 
far  from  my  dear  family  and  friends,  but  en- 
joy most  comfortable  reflections  on  Jesus,  my 
kinsman,  who  sits,  in  my  nature  and  name,  at 
the  right  hand  of  his  Father  and  my  Father,  who 
knows  my  frame,  a  feeble,  insignificant  reptile 
of  creation,  less  than  an  atom  compared  with 
those  suns  and  worlds  without  number  which  he 
is  now  sustaining  and  governing.  Bless  the 
Lord,  O  my  soul,  for  all  that  he  has  revealed 
of  his  attention  to  the  circumstances  of  his  peo- 
ple, and  for  all  that  I  have  experienced  of  his 
love  and  his  faithfulness  to  his  covenant." 

"  Utica,  September  29th,  1839.     After  a  jour- 
ney to  the  West  in  the  cause  of  colonization, 
reached  this  city  last  evening  in  health,  although 
A  A 


278  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

threatened  on  the  12th  with  an  attack  of  fever, 
and  felt  constrained  to  renew  my  expressions 
of  gratitude  for  my  innumerable  mercies,  espe- 
cially for  the  visible  interposition  of  the  Divine 
arm  in  my  restoration  to  health.  Truly,  Lord, 
thou  hast  not  dealt  with  me  after  my  sins,  nor 
rewarded  me  according  to  my  iniquities.  When 
I  take  a  view  of  my  heart,  deceitful  above  all 
things,  and  of  my  life,  so  unprofitably  spent,  my 
proneness  to  indulge  a  spirit  of  pride  under  ev- 
ery smile  of  Providence,  and  either  to  despond 
or  murmur  under  every  apparent  frown,  I  am 
really  overwhelmed  with  astonishment  at  the 
Divine  forbearance.  I  can  truly  say  that  I  be- 
lieve there  is  not  a  being  in  the  universe  to  whom 
a  sovereign  God  has  exercised  such  long-suffer- 
ing ;  a  being  more  distinguished  by  mercies,  and 
yet  more  ungrateful  and  unprofitable  in  the  en- 
joyment of  them  ;  none  has  more  abundant 
cause  now,  or  can  have  through  eternity,  to  sing 
aloud  of  his  forbearing,  forgiving,  supporting, 
and  comforting  mercy.  But,  O  my  Lord,  the 
most  acceptable  sacrifices  to  thee  are  a  broken 
spirit,  a  contrite  heart  thou  wilt  not  despise  ; 
and  this  brokenness,  this  contrition  of  spirit  I 
now  offer  thee,  through  Jesus  the  mediator.  Ac- 
cept of  me  as  I  am,  accept  of  my  body,  and 
strengthen  it  for  thy  service  ;  accept  of  my  soul, 
and  enlighten  it  to  comprehend  more  fully  the 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  279 

mysteries  of  thy  character,  and  Word,  and  Prov- 
idence ;  may  it  be  more  purified  in  all  its  pow- 
ers, and  motives,  and  desires ;  accept  of  my  du- 
ties, however  imperfectly  performed,  and  ren- 
der them  subservient  to  the  advancement  of  thy 
cause. 

"  '  Lord  !  I  am  thine,  forever  thine, 
Nor  shall  my  purpose  move  ; 
Thy  hand  hath  loosed  my  bonds  of  pain, 
And  bound  me  with  thy  love.' " 

"Kingshoroughj  Montgomery  county,  November 
22d,  1841.  Visited  this  village  in  behalf  of  the 
Colonization  Society.  On  Sabbath  morning  felt 
great  earnestness  in  prayer  for  the  Divine  pres- 
ence in  the  sanctuary  ;  afterward  experienced 
much  freedom  in  preaching  from  Psalm  xvii.,  15, 
*  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with  thy  like- 
ness ;'  and  have  since  understood  that  the  dis- 
course was  refreshing  to  the  souls  of  many.  Oh, 
what  a  debtor  I  am  to  rich,  sovereign,  abound- 
ing grace  !  it  is  grace  which  gives  the  dis- 
position to  ask  the  blessing ;  it  is  grace  which 
imparts  strength  of  body  and  the  exercise  of 
the  memory  to  recollect  Divine  truth,  and  it 
is  grace  which  renders  the  message  effectual, 
either  to  the  sinner  for  his  conversion,  or  to  the 
saint  for  his  consolation  and  support.  On  the 
evening  of  the  Sabbath,  attended  a  conference 
meeting,  when  we  had  satisfactory  evidence  of 
the  Lord's  presence,  both  in  the  exercises  of  con- 


280  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

versation  and  prayer.  I  was  disposed  to  ex- 
claim secretly,  with  Peter  on  the  mount,  '  It  is 
good  to  be  here  ;'  or  with  Jacob  in  the  wilder- 
ness, *  This  is  no  other  than  the  house  of  God 
and  the  gate  of  heaven.'  If  the  service  of  God 
is  so  delightful  amid  all  our  imperfections,  our 
blindness  of  mind,  the  coldness  of  our  hearts, 
and  wandering  imagination,  who  can  conceive 
the  joys  which  will  attend  the  services  of  the  up- 
per sanctuary,  where  we  shall  be  equal  to  the 
angels — where,  like  them,  we  shall  see  without 
a  cloud,  and  enjoy  without  interruption  ? 

"  '  There  we  shall  see  his  face, 
And  never,  never  sin, 
And  from  the  rivers  of  his  grace 
Drink  endless  pleasures  in  ;' 

and  unless  I  am  cherishing  a  false  hope,  this  per- 
fection of  enjoyment  must  shortly  be  realized. 
I  have  advanced  so  far  through  the  wilderness 
that  I  must  soon,  very  soon,  pass  over  Jordan, 
when  I  hope  to  reach  the  promised  Canaan. 

"Bless  the  Lord, O  my  soul,  that  while  so  many 
much  younger  than  I  have  gone  to  the  land  of 
silence,  I  am  yet  spared,  and  honoured  with 
health  and  strength  to  speak  and  act  for  him." 

^^New-Brunswick,  December  Idth,  1841.  Set 
apart  some  time  this  morning  for  prayer  and 
meditation  ;  reflected  with  unfeigned  gratitude 
on  all  that  goodness  which  had  so  eminently  fol- 
lowed me  during  a  long  journey  through  this 


REV.    DR.    PSOUDFIT.  281 

wilderness,  now  filled  with  briers  and  thorns  in 
consequence  of  sin  ;  where  there  are,  on  the 
right  hand  and  on  the  left,  so  many  devious 
paths  by  which  we  are  in  danger  of  going 
astray,  and  where  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  is 
ready  to  meet  and  destroy  us  at  every  step. 
Endeavoured  to  commit  all  my  children  to  that 
forbearing  and  gracious  God  by  whose  tender 
mercies  my  own  lot  through  life  had  been  so 
distinguished.  O  Lord,  are  they  not  thine  own 
offspring,  created  by  thee,  and  for  thy  glory, 
and  wilt  thou  not  have  compassion  on  the  work 
of  thine  own  hands  ?  Were  they  not  early  de- 
voted to  thee  in  baptism,  thine  own  ordinance  ? 
Have  I  not  aimed,  according  to  the  wisdom 
given  me,  to  bring  them  up  in  thy  fear,  and  for 
thy  service  ?  Has  it  not  been  my  supreme  solici- 
tude that  they  might  all  be  partakers  of  thy  mer- 
cy through  Jesus  Christ,  and  be  employed  in 
their  several  stations  for  promoting  thy  kingdom 
in  the  earth  ?  and  therefore  I  look  this  morning, 
in  all  humility,  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise. 
Daniel,  xxx.,  6.  I  also  commend  to  thy  blessing 
that  enterprise  in  which  I  am  still  occupied  for 
colonizing  our  people  of  colour  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  sending  through  these  colonies  the 
treasures  of  our  Divine  religion  to  the  benight- 
ed tribes  of  that  continent.  I  now  commit  ev- 
ery colony,  and  each  family  in  each  colony,  and 
A  A  2 


282  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

the  missionaries  of  all  denominations  who  are 
labouring  among  them,  to  the  protection  of  the 
God  of  providence ;  may  their  lives  and  health, 
and  all  that  interests  them,  be  precious  in  thy 
sight ;  and  oh  !  that  more  labourers  may  be 
speedily  raised  up  for  entering  that  and  other 
regions  where  the  fields  are  becoming  white  for 
the  harvest." 

Of  the  labours  of  Dr.  Proudfit  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  cause  of  African  colonization,  it  will 
not  be  necessary  to  say  much  ;  the  nature  of  the 
work  itself  is  too  well  known  to  need  explana- 
tion, and  the  flourishing  condition  in  which  he 
left  the  particular  institution  with  which  he  was 
connected  is  the  best  evidence  of  the  success  of 
his  exertions.  We  are  well  aware  of  the  great 
difference  of  opinion  which  obtains,  and  has  ex- 
isted for  years  past,  respecting  the  merits  of  this 
institution.  Not  a  few  have  denounced  it  in 
unmeasured  terms  as  one  of  the  greatest  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  the  emancipation  of  the  Amer- 
ican slave,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  a  scheme 
that  never  had  been  nor  could  be  productive  of 
any  real  good  to  Africa.  A  full  discussion  of  this 
subject  would  not  at  all  comport  with  our  main 
design  in  the  preparation  of  this  memoir ;  and  it 
is  the  less  necessary,  inasmuch  as  the  active  op- 
position to  the  society  has  of  late  very  much 
abated,  though  the  feelings  which  prompted  it 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  283 

are  by  no  means  extinct.  This  much,  howev- 
er, ought  to  be  said,  that  while  Dr.  Proudfit,  in 
common  with  many  of  our  most  eminent  phi- 
lanthropists, looked  upon  the  colonization  scheme 
as  a  valuable  one,  since  it  opened  to  the  Ameri- 
can slave  the  door  to  immediate  freedom,  he,  at 
the  same  time,  regarded  Africa  as  the  great  field 
of  labour  and  of  influence.  In  his  judgment,  it 
combined  the  double  character  of  an  emancipa- 
tion and  a  missionary  institution  ;  the  colonists 
were,  with  rare  exceptions,  emancipated  slaves  ; 
and  though  it  were  vain  for  any  one  to  expect 
that  these  colonists  individually  would  all  as- 
sume the  character,  or  do  the  work  of  the  Chris- 
tian missionary,  yet  he  did  believe  very  strong- 
ly that  the  influence  of  the  Liberian  Colony  is  a 
most  healthful  one.  Besides  its  influence  upon 
the  tribes  in  its  immediate  vicinity,  it  formed  a 
basis  of  aggressive  operations  against  both  the 
slave  trade  and  the  paganism  of  Central  Africa. 
Such  were  the  views  with  which  Dr.  Proudfit 
engaged  in  the  service  of  the  Colonization  So- 
ciety ;  he  looked  upon  himself  as  labouring  for 
the  benefit  of  the  long-down-trodden  children  of 
Ham,  for  the  promotion  of  a  scheme  which  tend- 
ed to  diffuse  throughout  the  African  Continent 
the  inestimable  blessings  of  Christianity  and  civ- 
ilization. 

In   1841   he  was  desirous  of  retirins:  from 


284  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

the  office  of  secretary,  and  tendered  his  resig- 
nation to  the  committee,  but,  at  their  urgent  re- 
quest, he  was  induced  to  continue  in  the  work 
until  near  the  close  of  the  succeeding  year.  The 
affairs  of  the  society,  by  the  Divine  blessing 
upon  his  labours,  had  been  placed  upon  a  satis- 
factory footing,  and  he  therefore  sent  to  the 
committee  the  following  letter,  which  is  here 
introduced  because  it  exhibits  fully  his  views  of 
the  general  subject,  and  the  aspects  in  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  contemplate  it : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  New- York  State  Colonization  Society, 
held  ^t  the  Colonization  Rooms,  February  13th, 
1841,  the  corresponding  secretary  having  ten- 
dered his  resignation,  it  was  unanimously  re- 
solved that  it  be  laid  on  the  table,  when  a  reply 
was  presented  by  Dr.  Reese,  with  a  resolution 
that  these  documents  be  published  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  committee.  They  are  here  sub- 
joined ; 

"  Colonization  Rooms,  » 

"  New- York,  January  28th,  1841.  \ 

"  Respected  Friend, 
"  Through  you,  as  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  New- York  State  Colonization 
Society,  I  herewith  tender  my  resignation  as 
their  corresponding  secretary  from  the  10th  of 
May  ensuing,  when  the  sixth  year  of  my  connex- 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  285 

ion  with  the  board  will  be  completed.  While 
I  adopt  this  resolution  to  retire,  I  wish  it  to  be 
distinctly  understood  that  my  confidence  in  the 
practicability  and  excellence  of  the  scheme  re- 
mains undiminished.  I  may  rather  assert  that 
with  each  revolving  year  we  have  accumulating 
evidence  of  the  magnitude  of  its  results,  both  as 
they  refer  to  our  own  coloured  people,  who 
compose  the  settlements  on  the  coast  of  Africa, 
and  also  the  interior  tribes  of  that  continent.  It 
is  well  known  that  the  custom  of  colonizing  is 
nearly  coeval  with  the  history  of  the  human 
race,  and  has  been  incorporated  in  some  degree 
with  the  progress  of  society  from  the  earliest 
ages  of  the  world.  In  every  period  of  time,  as 
men  began  to  multiply  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
we  have  seen  them  associating  in  little  groups, 
and  migrating  to  other  regions  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  their  condition,  either  temporal  or 
spiritual.  The  city  of  Carthage,  which  became 
the  rival  of  Rome,  was  founded  by  a  little  col- 
ony from  Phoenicia,  in  the  East.  Athens,  the 
birthplace  of  Demosthenes,  and  the  distinguish- 
ed nursery  of  literature  and  the  sciences,  was 
founded  by  an  inconsiderable  colony  from  Egypt, 
under  the  auspices  of  Cecrops  as  their  leader  ; 
and  this  continent,  where  an  asylum  is  opened 
for  the  oppressed  of  all  nations,  was  settled  by 
colonies   coming   in   succession  from  the  Old 


286  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

World  ;  but  in  consulting  the  whole  history  of 
colonization  during  the  lapse  of  ages,  we  can- 
not, in  my  opinion,  point  out  an  instance  in  which 
this  enterprise  incurred  less  expense,  or_  experi- 
enced less  disaster,  or  enjoyed  more  obviously 
and  eminently  the  smiles  of  an  approving  Prov- 
idence, than  the  project  of  colonizing,  with  their 
own  consent,  our  people  of  colour  on  the  soil 
of  their  ancestors  ;  and  certainly  in  no  instance 
can  the  object  recommend  itself  more  powerful- 
ly to  the  feelings  of  the  philanthropist  or  the 
Christian.  Whether  it  be  regarded  as  involv^- 
ing  the  interests  of  humanity  by  meliorating  the 
miseries  of  an  injured  portion  of  the  divine  off- 
spring, or  of  religion  by  opening  an  *  immeasu- 
rable field'  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  perhaps 
a  scheme  more  interesting  was  never  conceived 
in  the  bosom  of  man.  Can  we  imagine  a  no- 
bler design — one  either  more  benevolent  or  mag- 
nificent, than  the  erection  of  these  republics  of 
coloured  freemen  on  a  distant,  barbarous  shore, 
with  all  the  immunities  of  an  American  citizen  ? 
And  by  whom  is  this  interesting  enterprise  car- 
ried on  ?  Not  by  the  powerful  patronage  of 
government,  but  by  the  munificence  of  individ- 
uals— individuals  who,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
were  never  chargeable  with  holding  a  fellow- 
being  in  bondage  ;  thus,  from  motives  of  the  pu- 
rest sympathy,  and  by  the  sacrifice  of  much 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  287 

money  and  time,  they  are  elevating  the  man  of 
colour  from  his  present  degradation,  and  resto- 
ring him  to  that  position  in  the  family  of  nations 
from  v^^hich  he  has  been  torn  unrelentingly  to 
gratify  the  avarice  or  ambition  of  the  unprinci- 
pled white  man.  But  the  plan  which  you  are 
prosecuting  appears  still  more  interesting  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Christian,  when  he  contem- 
plates these  colonies  as  a  medium  through  which 
the  light  of  immortality  and  life  is  dawning  on 
a  continent  with  more  than  a  hundred  millions 
of  immortal  beings.  In  whatever  light,  there- 
fore, we  regard  the  enterprise  in  which  you 
have  embarked,  it  appears  entitled  to  aYi  hon- 
ourable rank  among  those  institutions  which 
adorn  this  age  of  benevolent  action  ;  and  I  am 
fully  persuaded  that  this  group  of  Christian  re- 
publics, composed  of  free  people  of  colour,  will 
remain  a  monument  to  the  honour  of  American 
piety,  and  patriotism,  and  philanthropy,  when 
those  who  first  projected  and  who  now  patro- 
nise it  have  gone  to  give  in  the  final  account  of 
their  stewardship. 

"  But,  however  interesting  I  regard  the  plan, 
or  however  confident  I  feel  of  its  ultimate  tri- 
umph, I  am  constrained  to  resign  my  connexion 
with  the  society.  I  have  now  passed  the  limit 
prescribed  as  the  ordinary  period  of  human  life, 
and  therefore  desire  to  spend  the  residue  of  my 


288  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

days  in  a  manner  more  retired,  and  with  a  more 
direct  reference  to  that  long  eternity  which  can- 
not be  far  distant. 

"  Therefore,  with  grateful  recollection  of  the 
prompt  and  cordial  co-operation  of  you  and 
your  associates  in  the  execution  of  every  meas- 
ure which  promises  to  advance  the  common 
cause,  and  with  fervent  wishes  for  your  success 
in  its  future  prosecution,  I  bid  you  an  affection- 
ate farewell.  Permit  me  to  add,  that  I  must  be 
chargeable  with  inexcusable  ingratitude,  did  I 
omit,  on  the  present  occasion,  to  express  my  ob- 
ligations to  many,  very  many  in  this  city,  and  in 
every  part  of  this  state,  and  of  other  states  which 
I  have  visited,  for  the  generous  support  which 
they  have  given  to  our  society.  They  appear 
sensible  of  the  injuries  which  have  been  inflict- 
ed on  the  offspring  of  Ham  by  our  own  nation, 
and  by  others ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  repairing 
these  wrongs,  they  have  contributed  with  a  de- 
gree of  liberality  honourable  to  themselves,  and 
the  cause,  and  the  country.  Without  the  least 
hesitation,  I  may  assert  of  some,  as  the  apostle 
testifies  to  the  honour  of  the  Macedonian  Church, 
*  that  to  their  power,  yea,  and  beyond  their  pow- 
er, they  were  willing  to  communicate  ;'  and  that, 
through  the  riches  of  Divine  grace,  we  may  all 
meet  in  that  w^orld  where  every '  labour  of  love' 
will  receive  its  ample  reward,  and  '  they  who 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  289 

SOW  and  they  who  reap  shall  rejoice  together, 
is  the  prayer  of  your  friend  and  fellow-labourer 
in  the  cause  of  Africa's  redemption, 

"Alexander  Proudfit, 
"  Cor.  Sechj.  N.  Y.  State  Coloniz.  Society. 
<•  Anson  G.  Phelps,  Esq." 

To  this  letter  the  committee  replied  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms  : 

"  Rev.  and  dear  Sir, 

"  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  New- York  State  Colonization 
Society,  having  received  and  read  your  affec- 
tionate letter,  containing  the  tender  of  your  res- 
ignation as  our  Corresponding  Secretary  on  and 
after  the  10th  of  May  ensuing,  beg  leave  to  re- 
spond thereto  by  presenting  to  your  notice  the 
considerations  which,  as  they  respectfully  sub- 
mit, should  be  influential  with  yourself  in  indu- 
cing you  to  reconsider  your  proposed  resigna- 
tion, and  to  consent  to  our  unanimous  wish  by 
continuing  in  the  service  of  the  society  and  of 
the  colonization  cause. 

"  For  nearly  six  years  you  have  been  most 
intimately  associated  with  us  in  your  official  ca- 
pacity, and  by  your  indefatigable  exertions,  your 
prudent  counsels,  and  successful  appeals  in  be- 
half of  our  society,  our  holy  and  noble  cause,  so 
long  the  object  of  your  affections  and  prayers, 
19  B  B 


290  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

has  been  greatly  prospered  and  advanced  ;  your 
name  and  character  having  thus  become  identi- 
fied with  colonization  in  our  own  and  other 
states,  the  friends  and  patrons  of  the  cause  have 
continued  to  make  you  the  chosen  almoner  of 
their  bounty,  and,  in  your,  retirement  from  the 
station  you  have  so  long  and  usefully  filled,  they 
would  feel  it  to  be  a  privation  not  to  see  you  or 
hear  from  you  as  heretofore  in  the  honoured 
work  of  Africa's  redemption. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  good  old  age  which 
you  urge  as  the  reason  of  your  retirement,  it  has 
pleased  a  gracious  Providence  thus  to  prolong 
your  days  in  the  midst  of  *  labours  more  abun- 
dant,' and  bestow  upon  you  a  degree  of  health 
and  strength,  at  your  advanced  period  of  life, 
such  as  is  allotted  to  few.  Your  friends  may 
record  of  you  as  was  written  of  Moses,  the  lead- 
er of  the  ancient  colonization  hosts,  even  beyond 
the  age  of  threescore  years  and  ten,  '  your  eye 
has  not  become  dim,  neither  is  your  natural 
force  abated.'  Hence  you  have  been  enabled 
to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  society  with  strict 
economy,  and  collect  nearly  eighty  thousand 
dollars  for  the  Colonization  Society  during  the 
six  years  of  your  official  service  ;  and  this,  too, 
during  a  season  of  unparalleled  commercial  dis- 
tress and  financial  embarrassment,  by  which  ev- 
ery department  of  benevolence  had  been  hinder- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  291 

ed  and  curtailed  for  lack  of  pecuniary  means. 
Nor  can  we  forget  that  the  period  of  your  la- 
bours in  our  service  has  included  that  in  which 
our  cause  has  suffered  the  most  formidable  and 
systematic  opposition  at  home,  and  the  most 
grievous  disasters  abroad  which  have  ever  oc- 
curred in  the  history  of  Liberia  ;  but  still  the 
good  hand  of  the  Lord  has  been  with  you  and 
with  us,  and  through  your  instrumentality,  under 
the  Divine  blessing,  the  State  of  New- York  has, 
during  the  six  years  past,  contributed  a  greater 
amount  of  money  to  the  purposes  of  colonization 
than  all  the  other  free  states  of  this  entire  con- 
federacy. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  we,  your  breth- 
ren and  fellow-labourers  in  the  cause  of  Africa 
and  her  children,  most  affectionately  and  earnest- 
ly desire  that  you  may  withhold  the  communi- 
cation of  your  resignation  at  the  ensuing  annual 
meeting,  and  that  you  will  continue  to  sustain, 
as  heretofore,  the  relation  of  our  corresponding 
secretary,  while  a  beneficent  Providence  shall 
still  spare  your  useful  life,  and  endow  you  with 
strength,  as  at  present,  to  perform  its  arduous 
and  important  duties. 

"  Should  increasing  age  and  infirmity  render 
it  desirable  at  any  time  to  provide  you  addition- 
al assistance  in  your  office,  the  committee  will 
promptly  respond  to  your  wishes  in  this  respect ; 


:292  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

but  we  cannot  forbear  to  repeat  our  reluctance 
to  lose  your  valuable  services  to  our  cause,  and 
our  ardent  wishes  that  you  may  still  find  it  con- 
sistent with  your  future  arrangements  to  retain 
the  office  you  hold,  and  favour  us  with  your  la- 
bours, your  counsels,  and  your  prayers.  With 
sentiments  of  high  regard  and  sincere  Christian 
affection,  we  subscribe  ourselves  most  respect- 
fully your  friends  and  brothers, 

"  Anson  G.  Phelps,      Gabriel  P.  Disosway, 
Thos.  C.DoREMUs,      David  M.  Reese, 
Thos.  De  Witt,        Moses  Allen." 
James  M.  Goold, 

The  last  visit  which  Dr.  Proudfit  made  to 
Washington  county  was  in  the  autumn  of  1842. 
On  this  occasion  he  spent  a  communion  Sabbath 
in  Argyle,  a  parish  adjacent  to  that  of  Salem, 
and  of  which  the  Rev.  George  Mairs,  one  of  Dr. 
Proudfit's  oldest  fellow-presbyters  and  friends, 
had  been  for  many  years  the  minister.*'     We 

*  Mr.  Mairs  was  minister  of  Argyle  for  almost  half  a  century. 
He  died  in  1841,  and  his  character  is  well  drawn  in  a  sermon 
preached  by  Mr.  Halley,  of  Salem,  on  the  Sabbath  succeeding  his 
decease.  Though  his  name  was  but  little  known  in  the  theolo- 
gical world,  it  will  long  be  precious  in  Argyle.  The  Book  of 
Psalms  was  a  special  favourite  of  his,  and  few  could  equal  him  in 
practical  edifying  exposition  of  those  divine  songs.  He  excelled 
on  communion  occasions  ;  one  of  his  sacramental  addresses  was 
pronounced  by  Dr.  J.  M.  Mason  to  be  one  of  the  finest  specimens 
of  eloquence  to  which  he  had  ever  listened.  He  was  an  Israelite, 
indeed,  in  whom  was  no  guile 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  293 

have  been  favoured  with  an  interesting  account 
of  this  visit  by  the  present  worthy  minister  of 
Argyle,  the  Rev.  George  Mairs,  Jr.,  which  we 
cannot  do  better  than  to  give  in  his  own  words : 
"  Dr.  Proudfit's  last  visit  to  this  place  was  rath- 
er providential ;  he  came  to  Salem  on  his  return 
from  a  journey  to  Western  New- York,  and  there 
heai'd  that  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  to  be  dispensed  in  our  church  on  the  follow- 
ing Sabbath.  He  at  once  concluded  (as  he  sub- 
sequently informed  me)  to  unite  with  us  in  that 
ordinance,  supposing  that  it  might  be  for  the  last 
time  in  this  place,  and  just  so  it  happened.  He 
entered  our  church  on  Saturday  (very  unex- 
pectedly to  us  all)  during  the  time  of  service ; 
at  a  proper  time  I  requested  him  to  engage  in 
the  concluding  services  of  the  day,  dispense  the 
tokens,  and  address  intended  communicants — 
duties  which  I  would  not  have  invited  any  oth- 
er man  on  earth  to  perform  so  long  as  I  enjoyed 
health.  The  doctor  at  once  complied,  and  the 
kind,  affectionate,  and  able  manner  in  which  he 
spoke  to  the  members  of  the  church  will,  I  have 
no  doubt,  be  long  kept  by  them  in  lively  remem- 
brance. Our  good  people,  indeed,  felt  that  a 
spiritual  father  was  before  them,  and  every  sen- 
tence that  fell  from  his  lips  was  listened  to  with 
the  deepest  attention,  and,  I  trust,  not  without 
self-application.     After  returning  home  in  the 


294  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

evening,  I  informed  the  doctor,  that  although  I 
was  prepared  for  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  yet 
I  wished  him  to  take  whatever  part  of  the  ser- 
vices would  be  most  agreeable  to  himself.  His 
reply  I  shall  always  remember :  '  feeling  that  it 
might  be  the  last  time  on  earth  that  he  would 
be  favoured  with  an  opportunity  of  meeting 
with  a  people  for  whom  he  cherished  the  kind- 
est feelings  of  regard,  he  would  cheerfully  com- 
ply with  my  request,  and  discharge  all  those 
duties  which  his  bodily  strength  would  war- 
rant.' 

"  He  preached  the  action  sermon  from  Psalm 
xvii.,  15, '  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  with 
thy  likeness  ;'  he  officiated  at  four  of  the  table 
services,  and  made  the  concluding  address. 
Throughout  the  whole  day  he  was  unusually 
animated  and  earnest ;  he  has  always  been  a 
great  favourite  in  this  congregation,  but  the  ser- 
vices of  this  day  raised  him  (if  possible)  still 
higher  in  their  esteem.  The  excellence  of  the 
sermon  is  a  subject  of  remark  among  our  peo- 
ple until  this  day,  and  the  concluding  parting 
address  was  so  seasonable,  appropriate,  and 
touching,  that  it  drew  forth  floods  of  tears  from 
the  eyes  of  many  of  our  fathers  and  mothers  in 
Israel.  It  was  truly  the  closing  scene  of  his 
useful  life  in  the  midst  of  this  people.  The 
evening  of  the  Sabbath  he  spent  under  my  roof, 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  295 

and  I  believe  we  all  felt  that  our  home  was  a 
Bethel.  After  repeatedly  engaging  in  prayer, 
praise,  and  religious  conversation,  the  doctor 
took  our  little  ones  by  the  hand  one  by  one,  and, 
in  the  most  feeling  manner,  addressed  himself 
to  each  by  name,  selecting,  at  the  same  time, 
subjects,  and  using  language  adapted  to  their 
capacity.  He  left  us  on  the  following  day  with 
our  best  wishes,  and  hoping  again  to  meet  him 
in  the  body,  but  a  righteous  God  determined 
otherwise.  Let  me  die  the  death  of  the  righte- 
ous, and  let  my  last  end  be  like  his." 

The  succeeding  Sabbath  was  spent  among 
the  people  of  his  former  charge,  and  he  thus  ex- 
presses his  feelings  in  view  of  its  solemn  servi- 
ces— the  last  which  he  was  ever  permitted  to 
perform  among  them. 

"  Salem,  Saturday,  November  5th,  1842.  I 
have  the  prospect  of  preaching  to-morrow  to 
this  dear  people,  to  whom  I  long  sustained  the 
relation  of  a  spiritual  overseer  in  the  Lord,  and 
upon  a  retrospective  view  of  days  which  are 
past,  how  much  do  I  recollect  which  may  call 
forth  the  language  of  thanksgiving,  and  how 
much  to  humble  me  in  my  Master's  presence  ! 
How  little,  comparatively,  did  I  feel  the  awful 
responsibility  of  the  trust !  How  rarely,  in  ad- 
dressing them  from  the  pulpit,  did  I  realize  as  I 
ought  that  each  hearer  was  an  immortal  being. 


296  MEATOIR    OF    THE 

and  must  soon,  very  soon  occupy  either  a  man- 
sion in  heaven,  with  angels  and  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  where  there  is  fulness  of  joy, 
or  be  tormented  in  hell  without  abatement  or 
end  !  How  often — to  my  shame  be  it  acknowl- 
edged— have  I  preached  my  own  insignificant 
self  rather  than  Him  whom  the  hosts  of  heaven 
admire,  and  who  is  the  only  hope  of  the  perish- 
ing sinner — seeking  their  momentary  applause 
rather  than  their  soul's  everlasting  salvation  ! 
Thou  wouldst  have  been  just,  insulted  Saviour, 
in  confounding  me  before  them  for  such  daring 
presumption  ;  but,  having  obtained  mercy,  I  iaint 
not,  and  am  yet  honoured  to  appear  as  thine 
ambassador,  and  have  the  prospect  of  proclaim- 
ing to  them  once  more  thine  own  unsearchable 
riches.  Wilt  thou  condescend,  blessed  Master, 
to  aid  me  on  the  present  occasion  1  Oh,  for  thy 
Spirit  to  shed  light  upon  my  understanding, 
W'hich  must  Otherwise  remain  dark,  and  with 
his  influences  to  enliven  and  expand  a  heart 
contracted  and  cold  !  Oh,  for  the  tongue  of  the 
learned,  that  I  may  speak  a  word  in  season  to 
all  who  attend  !  Often,  often  have  I  felt  thy 
power  and  seen  thy  glory  within  those  sacred 
walls  which  I  expect  to  enter  on  the  ensuing 
Sabbath  ;  often  have  I  there  experienced  a  de- 
gree of  delight  in  proclaiming  thy  message 
which   I   have   not   language  to   express,  and 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  297 

which,  during  the  lapse  of  eternal  ages,  cannot 
be  forgotten.  Thou  art  still  the  same  ;  fhy  pow- 
er is  the  same  to  support,  thy  fulness  to  replen- 
ish an  empty  earthen  vessel ;  thy  mercy  is  the 
same  to  pardon  every  imperfection  ;  and  thy 
faithfulness  to  accomplish  every  promise  in  me, 
and  by  me,  and  for  me.  In  this  I  rejoice,  that 
thou  art  the  same  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for- 
ever." 

Soon  after  his  return  to  New-York,  Dr.  Proud- 
fit  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  friend 
with  whom  he  had  spent  so  pleasant  and  profit- 
able a  communion  Sabbath,  and  which  may  be 
here  introduced  as  forming  an  appropriate  close 
to  the  account  of  his  last  visit  to  Washington 
county  s 

"  New- York,  November  25th,  1842. 
"  My  DEAR  Brother, 
"  I  frequently  recollect,  with  much  pleasure, 
the  season  which  I  enjoyed  with  you  during  my 
recent  visit  to  Argyle  ;  and  I  trust  that  he  who 
so  long  sustained  your  revered  father,  and  hon- 
oured him  to  be  eminently  useful  in  winning 
souls  to  the  Saviour,  will  continue  his  smiles  to 
you,  and  honour  you  to  be  equally  instrumental 
in  the  salvation  of  sinners.  For  the  purpose  of 
attaining  such  a  measure  of  usefulness,  let  us 
cherish  lively  impressions  of  our  own  insufficien- 
cy, of  our  absolute  insignificance  and  nothing- 


298  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ness,  that  Jesus  may  be  all  in  all  in  our  medita- 
tions, in  our  studying  for  the  pulpit,  and  in  the 
delivery  of  our  discourses. 

"  It  is  the  highest  attainment,  and,  indeed,  the 
only  safety  of  the  private  Christian,  and  more 
especially  of  the  public  teacher,  to  sit  at  the  feet 
of  the  Saviour,  looking  up  to  him  for  all  that 
measure  of  life,  light,  strength,  and  joy  which 
are  requisite  for  those  who  have  nothing,  and 
can  do  nothing  of  themselves.  But  let  us  cher- 
ish the  delightful  persuasion  that  the  Master 
whom  we  serve  possesses  all  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge,  all  the  fulness  of  the 
Godhead  bodily;  and  that  he  has  'received  these 
gifts  for  men,  even  for  the  rebellious  ;'  and  that 
he  is  willing,  infinitely  willing  to  communicate 
all  that  is  necessary  for  the  comfortable,  accept- 
able, and  profitable  discharge  of  duty.  We 
cannot,  my  dear  friend,  either  ask  or  expect  too 
much  from  him,  because  he  is  able  to  do  in  us 
and  for  us  'exceeding  abundantly  beyond  what 
we  can  ask'  or  conceive ;  and,  glory  to  his  name, 
he  is  not  more  able  than  willing.  Let  us  there- 
fore ask  and  receive,  that  our  joy  may  be  full. 

"  When  I  look  back  upon  the  exercise  of  my 
ministry  during  a  period  of  nearly  fifty  years,  I 
am  really  lost  in  the  contemplation  of  his  long- 
suffering  and  forbearance  to  me,  and  am  truly 
ashamed  at  each  reflection  upon  my  ingratitude 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  299 

to  a  benefactor  so  liberal,  and  a  friend  so  ardent. 


so  disinterested,  so  unceasing  in  his  attention  to 
my  wants.  Oh,  how  much  has  been  left  undone 
which  I  might  and  ought  to  have  done,  and  what 
infinite  imperfections  have  been  mingled  with 
the  little  which  I  attempted  to  perform  ;  but  I 
can  only  subscribe  with  the  apostle  to  the  hon- 
our of  the  long-suffering  of  this  Master,  *  as  we 
have  this  ministry,  having  obtained  mercy  of 
the  Lord,  we  faint  not.'     2  Cor.,  iv.,  1. 

"  Remember  me  affectionately  to. your  fami- 
ly, to  my  relatives  around  you,  to  your  session, 
and  to  the  Church,  with  a  request  for  an  inter- 
est in  their  prayers  ;  and  that,  in  the  exercises 
of  meditation  and  prayer,  and  a  lively  faith,  you 
may  be  kept  near  to  that  Jesus  who  is  the  fount- 
ain of  all  blessing,  and  enabled  day  after  day  to 
be  deriving  from  his  fulness  all  necessary  grace, 
is  the  unfeigned  wish  of  your  own  friend  and 
your  father's  friend,  A.  Proudfit. 

"  Rev.  George  Mairs." 

In  retiring  from  the  service  of  the  Coloniza- 
tion Society,  which  he  did  a  few  weeks  after  the 
date  of  the  above  letter,  it  was  not  Dr.  Proud- 
fit's  intention  to  retire  from  the  field  of  active 
Christian  exertion.  There  were  two  objects 
which  he  was  very  desirous  to  have  accom- 
plished. The  one  was  the  publication  of  a  new 
edition  of  his  works,  principally  for  circulation 


300  MEMOIR    <JF    THR 

among  the  remote  destitute  settlements  of  our 
country;  the  other  was  the  raismg.  of  an  amount 
sufficient  for  the  hquidation  of  the  debt  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Newburgh,  an  institu- 
tion for  which  he  had  done  not  a  little,  and  which 
he  was  desirous  to  see  placed  upon  a  thorough- 
ly secure  foundation.  From  several  of  his  let- 
ters, it  also  appears  that,  in  connexion  with  these 
objects,  it  was  his  desire  and  purpose  to  spend  a 
considerable  portion  of  his  time  in  visiting  vari- 
ous literary  institutions,  a  work  of  which  he  was 
very  fond,  and  was  always  ready  to  perform  ;* 
but  the  active  labours  of  the  venerable  servant 
of  the  Lord  were  near  their  close  at  the  time  of 
his  retiring  from  the  service  of  the  Colonization 
Society.  Very  soon  after  an  affection  of  the 
eyes  began  to  show  itself,  which  confined  him  to 
the  house  during  the  greater  part  of  the  winter 
of  1842-3.  The  tenour  of  his  meditations, 
while  thus  excluded  from  the  performance  of 
those  active  duties  in  which  he  so  much  delight- 
ed, will  be  learned  by  the  following  extracts 
from  his  diary.  For  such  a  season  of  solitude 
he  had,  in  fact,  been  preparing  himself  by  those 
habits  of  retiring  from  the  world,  which  he  had 

*  It  may  be  mentioned  that  he  was  a  trustee  of  Union  College, 
of  the  Burr  Seminary,  Manchester,  Vermont,  and  one  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Examhiation  of  the  Poughkeepsie  Collegiate  School. 
Usually  he  made  it  a  point  to  attend  the  examinations  of  all  these 
seminaries. 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  301 

cultivated  for  many  years.  Conscious  that  his 
course  on  earth  was  near  its  fuliihiient,  he  looks 
back  on  all  the  way  by  which  the  Lord  had  led 
him  with  mingled  thankfulness  and  humiliation  ; 
and  he  looks  forward  to  that  eternal  world  into 
which  he  was  so  soon  to  enter  with  the  cheerful 
confidence  of  being  accepted  in  the  Beloved. 

"  New-Brunswick,  March  12th,  1843.  Have 
been  confined  to  the  house  for  some  time  with 
an  inflamed  eye,  and  about  this  time  last  year 
was  laid  aside  for  a  while  by  an  inflammation 
of  the  lungs.  Thus  is  a  sovereign  God  teach- 
ing me  my  entire  dependance  on  his  providence, 
sometimes  by  one  dispensation  and  sometimes 
by  another.  When  labouring  under  one  infirm- 
ity, I  am  disposed  to  think  that,  if  it  were  re- 
moved, my  health  and  happiness  would  be  com- 
plete. My  Master  is  therefore,  in  wisdom  and 
love,  adding  line  upon  line  ;  thus  teaching  me,  if 
my  dull  heart  would  but  learn,  that  in  no  part 
of  this  feeble  body  am  I  invulnerable,  that  in  him 
I  live  and  breathe  ;  but,  amid  these  ever-varying 
dispensations,  how  much  is  there  to  produce  not 
merely  an  implicit,  but  cheerful  submission  to  his 
will :  to  sing  not  only  of  mercies,  but  of  judg- 
ments. 1st.  We  have  the  positive  assurance  that 
these  afflictions,  with  respect  to  the  righteous, 
are  the  rod  of  a  Father.  2d.  However  painful 
to  the  flesh,  and  though  they  may  derange  some 
C  c 


302  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

favourite  plan,  or  prevent  the  immediate  dis- 
charge of  some  duty  that  seems  to  us  impor- 
tant, they  are  all  sent  in  wisdom  and  love.  '  As 
many  as  I  love  I  rebuke  :  w^hom  the  Lord  lov- 
eth,  he  correcteth/ 

"  '  Behind  a  frowning  providence, 
He  wears  a  smiling  face.' 

3d.  We  are  assured  that  these  afflictions,  through 
the  sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit,  conduce 
to  their  real  advantage.  Indeed,  the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  the  soul,  at  least  our  becoming  mortified 
to  the  world,  our  crucifying  the  lusts  of  the  flesh, 
appears  to  be  principally  carried  on  by  means 
of  bereavements,  disappointments,  or  adversity 
in  some  form.  The  husbandman  prunes  the 
tree,  that  its  fruit  may  be  improved  both  in 
quantity  and  quality ;  the  refiner's  fire  is  ap- 
plied to  consume,  not  the  gold,  but  the  dross. 
Who  of  the  saints  cannot  testify  with  David, 
from  their  own  experience,  *  it  was  good  for  me 
that  I  have  been  afflicted  V  With  respect  to  my 
own  experience,  although  I  vv^as  drawn  at  first 
with  the  cords  of  love,  found  an  easy  transition 
to  the  light,  liberty,  and  consolations  of  the  gos- 
pel, w^ithout  suffering  in  any  considerable  degree 
the  terrors  of  the  law,  yet  I  can  now  sing  to  the 
honour  of  abounding  grace,  and,  I  believe,  w^ill 
sing  to  eternity'  as  loudly  of  judgments  inflicted 
as  of  mercies  imparted.     My  cup  has  indeed 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  303 

overflowed  with  mercies,  personal,  domestic, 
social ;  yet  I  consider  myself  more  indebted  to 
crosses  than  to  comforts  for  any  little  progress 
which  I  have  made  in  humility,  in  patience,  in 
mortification  to  the  world  and  conformity  to  the 
Divine  image.  Every  feature  of  a  child  of 
adoption  which  may  be  discerned  in  me  by  oth- 
ers, every  shadow  of  resemblance  to  my  Elder 
Brother  in  submission  to  the  will  of  God  or  zeal 
for  his  honour,  has  been  impressed  by  the  rod, 
and,  in  some  instances,  by  the  rod  severely  ap- 
plied. In  June,  1791  ;  in  May,  1796  ;  in  June  or 
July,  1802  ;  and  in  October,  1808,  there  were 
memorable  instances  in  which  the  Lord  hedged 
up  my  way,  preserving  me,  apparently,  from  ut- 
ter ruin,  by  visible  and  almost  miraculous  inter- 
positions of  his  hand  by  affliction.  O  Lord,  in 
many  other  instances,  but  especially  in  these,  in 
faithfulness  thou  didst  afflict  me." 

''March  19ih,  1843.  I  am  still  confined  to 
the  house  by  an  inflammation  of  the  eye,  and  am 
thus  denied  the  privilege  of  being  ministered 
unto  by  attending  the  public  ordinances  of  reli- 
gion, or  of  ministering  to  others  by  dispensing 
the  Word  of  Life  ;  but  it  is  the  Lord,  let  him  do 
what  seemeth  him  good.  The  days  and  nights 
appear,  indeed,  to  roll  tediously  along,  but  hope 
of  deliverance  in  due  time  supports  and  enlivens. 
This  dispensation  is  dark  to  me ;  yet  I  am  assu- 


304  MEMOIR   OF    THE 

red  by  the  Word  of  God,  the  testimony  of  oth- 
ers, and  my  own  experience  during  a  long  life, 
that  the  issue  will  be  happy  ;  that  he  will  bring 
me  to  the  light,  and  enable  me  to  behold  his  face 
in  righteousness.  '  Learn,  therefore,  O  my  soul, 
to  wait  with  patience  upon  thy  covenant  God, 
though  clouds  and  darkness  are  round  about  him.' 

"  '  Deep  in  unfathomable  mines 
Of  never-failing  skill, 
He  treasures  up  his  bright  designs, 
And  works  his  gracious  will.' 

"  My  warfare  will  soon  be  accomplished. 
Here  there  is  alternate  light  and  darkness,  joy 
and  sorrow,  health  and  sickness ;  but  in  that 
world  of  glory,  which  is  open  to  the  eye  of  faith, 
all  these  vicissitudes  shall  terminate  forever  ; 
the  light  of  its  blessed  inhabitants  will  be  un- 
clouded, their  joy  unmingled,  their  health  unim- 
paired ;  the  Lord  will  remain  their  everlasting 
light,  and  the  days  of  their  mourning  shall  be 
ended." 

"  March  25th,  1843.  I  have  now  advanced 
nearly  four  years  beyond  the  prescribed  period 
of  human  life.  I  am  therefore  forewarned  by 
the  purpose  of  God  and  the  natural  course  of 
things,  that  I  must  shortly  be  called  to  leave 
time  for  eternity.  How  solemn  is  the  prospect 
of  retiring  from  a  w^orld  which  I  have  so  long 
inhabited,  and  in  which  I  have  seen  so  much  to 
excite  my  admiration  of  the  power,  wisdom,  and 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  305 

goodness  of  the  Creator  !  How  often  have  I 
been  led  to  admire  his  bounty  in  the  almost  in- 
finite variety  of  the  productions  of  this  world, 
some  of  them  more  substantial  and  necessary, 
others  more  delicate,  designed,  apparently,  to 
gratify  our  taste  !  In  the  contemplation  of  this 
variety,  often  have  I  been  led  to  exclaim  with 
the  Psalmist,  '  O  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy 
works  !  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made  them  all.' 

"  But  in  retiring  from  this  world,  where  there 
is  so  much  to  awaken  our  admiration,  the  eye 
of  faith  can  look  forward  to  scenes  still  brighter 
and  more  glorious,  to  new  heavens  and  a  new 
earth  ;  and  if  in  this  world  there  is  so  much  to 
fill  us  with  adoring  thoughts  of  God,  how  mag- 
nificent beyond  conception  must  heaven  be, 
where  he  dwells  in  light,  where  Jesus  sits  efful- 
gent in  the  midst  of  the  throne  ;  but  how  little 
do  we  know  of  the  mode  of  our  future  existence  ; 
in  what  province  of  the  divine  dominions  the 
New  Jerusalem  is  established  ;  what  are  the  ex- 
ercises and  joys  of  the  redeemed  ;  in  what  man- 
ner are  they  admitted  to  fellowship  with  the  Fa- 
ther, the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  what  is  im- 
plied in  seeing  God  face  to  face,  and  knowing 
even  as  we  are  known  ;  in  what  way  shall 
spirit  commune  with  kindred  spirit  during  the 
space  which  intervenes  until  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  ;  what  are  we  to  understand  by  bod- 
20  Cc2 


306  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ies,  powerful,  spiritual,  incorruptible,  glorious, 
which  shall  hunger  no  more  nor  thirst  any  more, 
capable  of  serving  God  night  and  day  ! 

"  Little  as  is  now  known  of  these  things,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  nature  they  must  soon, 
very  soon  be  realized  by  me  ;  and  in  taking  a 
retrospective  view  of  my  journey  through  life, 
who  of  the  human  family  is  more  indebted  than 
myself  to  a  forbearing,  forgiving,  beneficent 
God?  Truly  goodness  and  mercy  have  follow- 
ed me  so  far  in  every  step  through  the  wilder- 
ness. I  have  been  favoured  with  an  exemption 
from  torturing  pain  and  loathsome  disease,  with 
a  competency  of  temporal  blessings,  and  an  un- 
usual measure  of  health  to  enjoy  them.  I  have 
also  been  favoured  with  the  affections  of  a  large 
circle  of  friends,  and  with  the  confidence  of  a 
Church  to  which  I  ministered  for  more  than 
forty  years  ;  and  by  offices  of  a  more  general 
nature  I  have  had  opportunities  of  extending  my 
acquaintance  with  many  thousands  in  various 
parts  of  our  country,  and  of  every  Christian 
name,  with  whom  I  hope  to  be  associated  for- 
ever in  the  kingdom  of  our  common  Father ; 
and  although  far  advanced  in  years,  I  am  scarce- 
ly sensible  of  the  infirmities  common  to  persons 
of  my  age.  I  enjoy  the  various  senses  of  the 
body  unimpaired,  the  exercise  of  memory,  and 
of  other  powers  of  the  mind. 


REV.   DR.  PROUDFIT.  307 

"  Amid  favours  thus  multiplied.  I  have  only  to 
complain  of  myself,  of  my  ingratitude  for  mer- 
cies innumerable ;  of  opportunities  lost,  which 
might  have  been  improved  in  doing  good  or  re- 
ceiving good  ;  of  indolence  and  insincerity  in 
the  service  of  my  Master  and  of  my  generation  ; 
of  the  inconsiderable  advancement  in  spiritual 
wisdom,  in  faith,  love,  and  all  the  other  graces 
of  the  divine  life.  For  all  these  transgressions, 
for  my  omissions  of  duty  required,  for  my  com- 
mission of  sins  forbidden,  I  humble  myself  this 
moment  before  a  holv  God." 


308  MEMOIR  OF  Tin: 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A  FULL  account  of  the  closing  days  of  the 
venerable  subject  of  this  memoir  will  be  found 
n  the  following  letter  of  his  son,  Dr.  John 
Proudfit,  of  Rutger's  College,  with  whom  he 
spent  the  last  winter  of  his  life,  and  at  whose 
house  he  died.  This  account  is  preceded  by 
some  recollections  of  Dr.  Proudfit  designed  to 
exhibit  certain  phases  of  his  character,  especial- 
ly his  domestic  character,  which  could  be  ap- 
preciated and  properly  described  only  by  a 
member  of  his  own  family. 

New-Brunswick,  Sept.  20,  1845. 
"  My  dear  Friend, 

"  You  desire  from  me  an  account  of  the  clo- 
sing scene  of  my  father's  life,  with  such' traits  of 
his  character,  and  such  incidents  and  recollec- 
tions as  it  is  the  peculiar  office  of  an  intimate 
and  domestic  intercourse  to  discover  and  pre- 
serve ;  and  I  hasten  to  comply  with  your  re- 
quest, briefly  but  earnestly  expressing  my  grat- 
itude to  God  and  to  you,  my  dear  and  honoured 
brother,  for  that  love  and  appreciation  of  the 
beauty  of  a  holy  and  useful  life  which  has 
prompted  you  to  the  labour  of  diffusing  and 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  309 

perpetuating  its  influence  in  these  memoirs. 
The  task,  naturally  enough,  devolved  upon  me, 
but  Divine  providence  (in  ways  which  it  would 
serve  no  useful  purpose  to  explain  here)  pre- 
vented me  from  performing  it,  with  the  design, 
I  trust,  that  it  should  be  better  accomplished  by 
yourself. 

"  I  find  no  language  to  express  the  emotions 
awakened  by  the  recurrence  of  my  father's  im- 
age to  my  mind  :  how  lovely  and  venerable  it 
seems, — how  suffused  in  all  tender  and  sacred 
hues, — how  associated  with,  and,  as  it  were,  im- 
printed upon  all  that  is  great  and  beautiful  in 
nature — the  starry  heavens,  the  green  earth,  the 
opening  buds  of  spring,  the  general  decay  of 
autumn  !  I  have  often  asked  myself,  what  is 
the  secret  of  this  life  which  death  has  not  been 
able  to  destroy,  nor  even  impair ;  which,  in  truth, 
seems  to  possess  an  increased  charm  and  pow- 
er since  it  has  been  detached  from  all  mortal  re- 
lations ;  of  this  society,  which  death  seems  scarce- 
ly to  have  interrupted,  so  that  he  seems  as  tru- 
ly present  with  me  as  when  we  walked  and  talk- 
ed together  here  ?  And  I  have  only  been  able 
to  trace  it  to  the  predominance,  in  his  character 
and  intercourse  with  me,  of  that  '  spiritual  mind 
which  is  life' — a  life  untouched  by  physical 
death,  and  but  slightly  affected  by  the  accidents 
of  presence  and  absence.     Everything  now  re- 


310  MEMOIR    Of    THE 

minds  me  of  him,  because,  from  my  earliest 
years,  he  made  everything  remind  me  of  God. 
When  he  became  an  actual  inhabitant  of  the 
invisible  world,  he  seemed  only  to  be  more  in- 
timately associated  vi^ith  those  great  objects  to 
which  it  had  been  his  constant  aim  to  lead  the 
thoughts  and  affections  of  all  around  him. 

"  The  degree  in  which  he  '  felt  the  powers  of 
the  world  to  come'  was,  I  think,  very  remarka- 
ble. It  must  have  struck  any  person  who  had 
even  a  brief  intercourse  with  him,  and  has  often 
been  remarked  to  me  since  his  death  by  those 
who  had  no  more  than  a  stage-coach  or  steam- 
boat acquaintance  with  him,  or  had  met  him 
only  in  the  social  circle.  Those  Scriptural  ex- 
pressions might  be  used  of  him  with  perfect 
truth  :  *  he  walked  with  God  :' — He  endured  as 
seeing  Him  who  is  invisible.  *  The  things'  of 
God's  law  were  '  in  his  heart,'  and  he  talked  of 
them  as  he  sat  in  his  house  and  as  he  walked 
in  the  way — as  he  lay  down  and  as  he  rose  up. 

"  Yet  I  do  not  think  his  mode  of  introducing 
religious  things  was  intruswe  or  forced.  He 
was  opposed  to  this  in  principle,  and,  I  think, 
was  singularly  happy  in  escaping  it  in  practice. 
The  strength  and  activity  of  the  spiritual  life  with- 
in him  diffused  a  religious  aspect  over  his  whole 
character  —  an  aspect  which  had  at  once  the 
equability  and  the  variety  of  perfect  nature  and 


REV.   It'd.  PRUUDFIT.  311 

sincerity — the  lights  and  the  shades  which  make 
every  aspect  of  nature  pleasing  and  beautiful. 
The  diffusion  of  the  religious  influence  around 
him  was  in  striking  accordance  with  those  em- 
blems which  make  the  light,  the  salt,  and  the 
leaven,  the  emblems  of  the  progress  of  that 
'  kingdom  of  God'  which  is  '  within  us,'  and 
'  Cometh  not  with  observation.' 

"  The  main  strength  of  his  character  seems 
to  me  to  have  lain  in  a  constitutional  ardour — 
an  aKdiiarov  nvp — belonging,  indeed,  to  his  nat- 
ural temperament,  but  receiving  an  increased 
energy,  as  well  as  a  holy  direction,  from  an  un- 
common unction  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Doubt- 
less his  true  element  was  action.  He  did  not 
perceive  this  at  first.  His  early  years,  and  the 
first  ten,  at  least,  of  his  ministerial  life  were  de- 
voted almost  entirely  to  sohtary  study.  He 
read  the  classics,  and  the  early  Christian  wri- 
ters, and  the  profound  divines  of  the  seventeenth 
century  with  great  diligence,  sleeping  in  an 
eastern  room,  in  the  line  of  a  large  window, 
looking  directly  towards  the  east,  that  he  might 
be  waked  to  his  studies  by  the  first  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  seldom  migrating  from  his  library  ex- 
cept to  preach  or  perform  some  tour  of  pastoral 
or  ministerial  duty ;  and  doubtless  the  years 
thus  spent  in  study  and  devotional  retirement 
served  to  supply  a  deeper  and  purer  source  for 


312  MEMOIR    UF    THE 

the  almost  unceasing  activity  of  his  later  years. 
But  when  his  faculties  had  come  fairly  into  con- 
tact with  the  modern  spirit  of  Christian  benev- 
olence, they  expanded  into  an  activity  which 
could  never  again  be  subjected  to  the  compres- 
sion and  restraint  necessary  to  studious  habits. 
He  read,  it  is  true,  a  good  deal,  and  wrote  a 
great  deal  to  the  last,  and  the  portion  of  time 
which  he  gave  to  secret  devotion  and  medita- 
tion was,  I  should  think,  rather  increased  than 
diminished  ;  but  he  was  thenceforward  a  man 
of  action  rather  than  of  study.  His  intercourse 
lay  with  men  rather  than  with  books  ;  and  the 
energy  of  his  mind  and  of  his  affections  was  too 
much  absorbed  in  the  present  and  the  future  to 
admit  of  the  tranquil  contemplation  of  the  past ; 
at  least  he  thought  so.  I  am  by  no  means  cer- 
tain that  he  did  not  overrate  the  incompatible- 
ness  of  active  and  studious  pursuits  ;  but  I  am 
now  speaking  only  of  the  fact  and  of  his  own 
impressions.  His  '  coemptos  undique  nobiles  li- 
bros'  he  used  to  survey  and  handle  with  an  af- 
fection which  had  a  touch  of  sadness  in  it,  speak- 
ing of  the  delight  he  had  found  in  them,  of  the 
profuseness  with  which  he  had  willingly  spent 
money  for  them,  relating  anecdotes  of  authors 
and  editions,  and  expressing  his  regret  at  the  in- 
cessant engagements  of  an  active  kind  which 
had  withdrawn  him  from  his  favourite  studies. 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  313 

Perhaps  I  should  not  say  his  regret.  He  evi- 
dently felt  that  the  public  and  active  labours  in 
which  he  was  principally  engaged  constituted 
his  vocation  ;  that  in  these  he  was  to  *  serve  his 
generation  by  the  will  of  God,'  (a  favourite  ex- 
pression with  him).  Still,  he  often  cast  a  linger- 
ing look  on  the  quiet  and  contemplative  pursuits 
of  his  youth  and  early  manhood,  and  sometimes 
said,  after  quoting  a  passage  from  a  classic  au- 
thor, *  how  I  should  delight  to  renew  these  stud- 
ies ! — '  adding,  *  but  we  are  not  here  for  mere  en- 
joyment,' or  something  to  that  effect.  His  love 
of  books  was  decidedly  a  trait.  Some  fine 
copies,  which  he  purchased  when  a  member  of 
college,  continued  to  be  the  objects  of  his  affec- 
tion to  the  last.  *  I  have  often  purchased  a  cost- 
ly book,'  he  has  repeatedly  said  to  me, '  and  have 
felt  that  a  single  idea  which  it  suggested  has 
fully  repaid  me.'  The  Greek  Testament  which 
he  used  in  family  worship — a  noble  *  Basker- 
ville' — he  used  to  look  upon  and  handle  with  a 
peculiar  affection,  saying,  that,  '  if  luxury  was 
allowable  in  anything,  it  was  in  having  fine  cop- 
ies of  the  Word  of  God.  His  fondness  for  that 
book  has  often  brought  to  my  mind  Alexander's 
love  for  his  Homer,  and  I  have  even  carried  the 
parallel  farther,  and  thought  that  in  his  case  the 
priceless  volume  of  God's  word  was  laid  up  in 
a  nobler  casket  than  that  of  Darius,  even  the 
Dd 


314  MEMOIR    UF    THE 

casket  of  a  holy  heart,  chased  with  the  pure 
gold  of  faith,  and  set  with  the  gems  of  holy  af- 
fections. I  recollect  the  time  when  he  used  his 
Hebrew  Bible  also  at  family  prayers  ;  but  this 
he  did  not  long  continue  to  do.  Often,  howev- 
er, I  have  heard  him  say,  •  I  must  sit  down  and 
renew  my  Hebrew  studies  : — '  But  to  sit  down 
for  such  a  length  of  time  as  is  necessary  to  mas- 
ter and  familiarize  an  ancient  language  was  not 
among  the  things  which  the  plan  of  Providence 
in  reference  to  him  during  the  latter  years  of  his 
life,  permitted  him  to  do.  His  Greek  Testament 
he  used  for  this  purpose,  if  I  recollect  rightly, 
till  he  left  Salem.  His  classical  reading  was 
too  early  interrupted  to  be  very  extensive.  It 
had,  however,  been  unusually  thorough,  and 
had  produced  one  of  its  most  valuable  fruits,  in 
at  once  strengthening  and  chastening  his  ima- 
gination, and  perfecting  his  conception  and  ap- 
preciation of  the  beautiful.  Horace,  and  the 
Georgics  of  Virgil,  and  the  tenth  Satire  of  Ju- 
venal were  his  peculiar  delight  among  the  Ro- 
man writers.  Of  the  first,  he  had  learned  large 
portions  by  heart,  and  often  quoted  his  fine  mor- 
al maxims,  and  alluded  to  the  inimitable  pictures 
of  human  life  in  his  Satires  to  the  last.  The 
tranquil  and  cheerful  Xenophon  was  his  favour- 
ite among  the  Greeks.  He  appears  to  have 
read  the  early  Christian  writers  with  attention. 


I 


REV.   DR.   PKOUDFIT.  315 

but  as  theologians  he  considered  them  feeble  and 
superficial,  and  principally  valuable  as  furnish- 
ing the  materials  of  ecclesiastical  history.  His 
love  of  books  and  of  retirement,  together  with 
his  characteristic  ardour  and  perseverance  in 
whatever  he  undertook,  would,  I  think,  have  led 
him  to  make  great  acquirements,  had  not  his  en- 
ergies been  early  diverted  into  a  different  chan- 
nel ;  but,  active  as  he  was,  of  late  years,  no 
man  thought  less  of  a  mere  bustling  activity. 
His  conviction  was  very  strong,  and  often  ex- 
pressed, that  a  well-accomplished  and  '  thor- 
oughly-furnished' minister  of  Christ  must  be  a 
learned  man,  a  student,  a  thinker — a  man  living 
much  among  books  and  well  acquainted  with 
them.  He  very  often  expressed  his  doubts 
whether  the  multiplied  public  services  of  minis- 
ters in  the  present  day  tended,  after  all,  to  the 
edification  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  whether  it 
would  not  be  better  if  ministers  were  more  in 
their  studies,  and  private  Christians  more  in 
their  families  and  closets.  He  thought  the  so- 
cial was  often  cultivated  in  religion  to  the  neg- 
lect of  the  meditative,  the  spiritual,  the  devotion- 
al ;  that  the  style  of  preaching  which  prevailed 
formerly,  when  ministers  were  more  decidedly 
studious  men,  was  more  solid,  instructive,  edify- 
ing, and  '  able  to  convince  the  adversary  ;'  and 
that  the  private  Christians  who  grew  up  under 


316  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

such  ministrations  were  more  intelligent,  stable, 
and  spiritually  minded.  He  often  warned  his 
young  friends  in  the  ministry  and  candidates 
for  the  sacred  office  to  beware  how  they  allow- 
ed engagements,  even  of  a  benevolent  kind,  to 
interfere  with  those  studies  which  are  the  prop- 
er work  and  duty  of  early  life — admonishing 
them  of  the  great  importance  of  a  well-disci- 
plined and  well-furnished  mind,  and  of  the  dif- 
ficulty of  even  maintaining  studious  habits  after 
they  should  once  get  fairly  into  the  vortex  of 
this  age  of  restless  activity  and  unsparing  de- 
mands on  the  time  and  resources  of  ministers. 

"  His  love  of  souls  was  wonderful.  In  his 
more  private  supplications,  he  prayed  for  the 
salvation  of  men,  of  particular  friends  who  were 
strangers  to  God,  of  *  thoughtless  youth,'  of  the 
heathen,  with  an  earnestness  (I  might  perhaps 
say,  without  extravagance,  with  an  agony  of 
soul)  which  has  reminded  me  of  the  awful  and 
mysterious  language  of  the  apostle  on  this  sub- 
ject, such  as,  '  we  are  beside  ourselves  unto 
God,'  and  other  similar  expressions.  The  Word 
of  God  was  '  a  fire  locked  up  in  his  bones' — a 
*  burden'  which  weighed  heavily  upon  his  soul. 
His  convictions  of  the  greatness  of  our  fall  from 
God,  of  the  utter  corruption  and  helplessness  of 
men,  and  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  sovereign 
and  omnipotent  Grace  to  '  open  their  eyes,  and 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  317 

to  turn  them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,'  were  very  deep 
and  powerful.  He  often  arose  from  his  bed  at 
night  to  pray  for  souls.  He  often  stopped  in 
his  walks  or  rides,  or  arrested  the  course  of  con- 
versation with  a  pious  friend  for  this  purpose. 
With  what  unutterable  earnestness  would  he 
offer  up  that  sublime  petition  of  the  prophet, 
'  come  from  the  four  winds,  O  Breath,  and 
breathe  upon  these  slain,  that  they  may  live  !' 
Yet  his  convictions  of  the  duty  of  men  to  '  turn 
to  God  and  do  works  meet  for  repentance,'  to 
'  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ'  and  save 
themselves  from  this  crooked  and  perverse  gen- 
eration, were  equally  strong  and  earnest.  His 
ardent  soul  little  disposed  him  to  be  a  solver  of 
theological  knots,  or  a  diver  into  the  bottomless 
depths  of  metaphysical  abstraction.  He  freely 
confessed  that  he  was  not  fitted  for  it.  He 
was  '  a  preacher  of  the  Word.'  What  he  *  re- 
ceived from  the  Lord's  mouth,'  that  he  '  de- 
clared' to  men.  For  him  a  *  thus  saith  the 
Lord,'  was  sufficient.  He  embraced  and  pre- 
sented the  great  truths  which  form  the  anti- 
podes of  theology  with  the  same  boldness  and 
prominency  in  which  they  stand  forth  in  the 
Scriptures  of  truth,  without  feeling  it  neces- 
sary to  explore  all  '  the  deep  and  secret  things' 
that  lay  between  them.  In  his  preaching,  the 
D  D  2 


318  MEMOIR    OF    THK 

glorious  truth,  that  *  all  things  are  of  God,'  shone 
out  full-orbed  ;  but  he  '  prayed'  men  to  he  rec- 
onciled unto  God  with  a  liberty  and  earnestness 
far  from  being  impaired,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
clothed  with  peculiar  energy  and  authority,  by 
the  close  and  living  relation,  in  his  mind  and 
preaching,  between  the  two  great  co-ordinate 
truths  of  God's  sovereignty  and  man's  obliga- 
tion. No  man  ever  heard  him  say  or  imply 
anything  which  looked  like  excusing  unconvert- 
ed men  in  waiting  for  God  without  turning  to 
Him,  forsaking  their  sins,  and  seeking  his  mercy 
through  Christ.  The  style  in  which  he  charged 
the  conscience  was  full  of  authority  and  power. 
His  entreaties  to  sinners  to  '  flee  from  the  wrath 
to  come'  and  secure  'the  great  salvation'  by 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  were  pathetic  and 
importunate  beyond  almost  anything  that  I  have 
ever  heard.  I  have  often  seen  him,  in  his  own 
pulpit  at  Salem,  sit  down,  overpowered  by  his 
emotions,  and  weep  for  some  time  before  he 
could  proceed.  Sometimes,  on  the  point  of  dis- 
missing the  congregation,  he  addressed  to  them 
a  few  words  of  parting  counsel  and  entreaty, 
and  one  of  these  shafts,  discharged  '  at  a  ven- 
ture,' lodged  in  the  heart  of  a  careless  hearer  in 
the  galleries,  and  was  the  means  of  '  saving  a 
soul  from  death.'  It  is  very  possible  that  such 
instances  of  success  induced  him  to  repeat  this 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  319 

deviation  oftener  than  was  expedient ;  but  his 
heart  overflowed  the  regular  channels  of  in- 
struction and  effort,  and  his  maxim  was, '  if  hy 
all  means  I  may  save  some.' 

"Even  in  sleep  and  in  delirium  his  soul 'obey- 
ed the  helm'  of  its  ruling  principle.  My  moth- 
er has  related  to  me  that  one  night,  during  the 
early  period  of  his  ministry,  she  was  awakened 
by  the  sound  of  his  voice.  She  perceived  him 
standing  on  the  floor  asleep,  moving  his  arms 
with  vehemence,  and  uttering  earnest,  though 
incoherent  words.  '  My  dear,'  said  she,  '  what 
are  you  doing  V  '■  I  am  telling  them,'  he  re- 
plied, '  to  work  out  their  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling.' 

"  During  the  long  fever  which  brought  him 
nigh  to  death  in  1842,  he  was  often  delirious. 
On  one  occasion,  while  his  mind  was  wandering, 
he  insisted  that  the  doctor  should  be  sent  for. 
My  mother  replied,  '  he  has  just  been  here  and 
left  his  prescriptions,  which  we  are  following  : 
he  cannot  do  you  any  good  just  now.'  '  Well,' 
said  he,  '  if  he  cannot  do  me  any  good,  perhaps 
I  can  do  him  some.'  At  another  time,  when 
this  gentleman  was  in  attendance,  he  pressed 
him  very  closely  and  earnestly  on  the  subject  of 
personal  religion,  and  added,  '  now,  doctor,  if  1 
die,  and  you  neglect  this  counsel,  I  take  you  to 
witness  this  day  that  I  am  pure  from  your  blood  :' 


320  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

nor  would  he  be  satisfied  till  the  doctor  had  ta- 
ken out  his  pocket-book  and  recorded  the  pre- 
cise day  and  hour  of  the  transaction. — One  of 
his  elders,  an  eminently  pious  man,  had  died  and 
left  a  large  family  of  sons,  most  of  whom  were 
very  wild  and  thoughtless.  One  day,  as  my  fa- 
ther lay  in  his  darkened  and  silent  room,  he  sud- 
denly broke  out  into  an  exhortation,  addressed  to 
each  of  these  youth  by  name,  beginning  with 
the  eldest,  and  proceeding  with  great  exactness 
and  appropriateness  to  the  youngest.  He  then 
turned  to  my  mother,  who  sat  by  his  bedside, 
and  said,  *  Who  will  carry  this  message  to  these 
youth  V  She  said  there  was  no  one  whom  she 
could  then  conveniently  send.  '  Well,  then,' 
said  he,  *  you  will  have  to  carry  it  yourself;  for 
it  must  be  borne  to  them  immediately.' — On  one 
of  these  occasions,  when  he  was  exhausting  him- 
self by  incessant  speaking,  my  mother,  unable  to 
prevail  on  him  otherwise  to  be  silent,  hinted  to 
him  that  his  mind  was  a  little  wandering.  He 
was  evidently  surprised  and  hurt  by  the  remark. 
*  My  mind  wandering?  Well'  —  (after  a  mo- 
ment's silence),  '  if  my  mind  wanders,  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  polar  star !' 

"  A  desire  which  had  such  complete  posses- 
sion of  his  soul  must,  of  course,  have  impelled 
him  to  incessant  efforts  to  compass  its  object. 
The  dream  of  Lucian,  in  which  he  fancied  him- 


REV.   Dll.   PKOUDFIT.  321 

self  borne  aloft  over  the  earth,  and  scattering 
everyv^^here,  in  his  flight,  seeds  which  bore  the 
most  beautiful  and  precious  fruits,  was,  in  a  bet- 
ter sense,  realized  to  him  ;  for  his  whole  life  was 
a  dispersioji  of  the  seed  of  God's  saving  truth. 
The  casual  word,  the  brief  but  earnest  counsel, 
inserted  even  in  his  ordinary  correspondence  ; 
the  tracts  which  he  wrote,  published,  and  cir- 
culated himself  many  years  before  associations 
for  that  purpose  were  formed ;  his  ardent  and 
impressive  sermons,  many  of  which  passed 
through  six  editions  before  his  death ;  the  ear- 
nestness with  which  he  co-operated  with  every 
form  of  benevolent  effort,  and  the  large  propor- 
tion of  his  income  which  always  went  to  such 
objects  ;  and,  though  last  (in  his  estimation  cer- 
tainly not  least),  his  labours  for  the  planting  and 
fostering  of  Christian  colonies  in  Africa,  put  all 
his  talents  to  occupation  in  a  way  that  will,  I 
doubt  not,  procure  him  the  sentence  of  '  Well 
done  !'  when  the  great  Master  of  the  household 
shall  '  come  and  reckon'  with  his  servants.  His 
efforts  for  the  young  were  peculiarly  earnest, 
and  were  eminently  blessed.  I  doubt  if  there 
was  a  child  in  his  congregation  who  was  not 
brought  directly  under  his  personal  influence. 
He  often  persuaded  parents  to  give  their  sons  a 
liberal  education,  where  he  observed  in  them 
superior  intelligence,  and  thus  many  a  highly- 
21 


o22  MEMO  III    OF    TIJE 

endowed  intellect  was,  by  his  means,  rescued 
from  oblivion  and  unfruitfulness.  The  number 
\vhom  he  educated  himself,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
was  very  surprising.  One  youth,  bequeathed 
to  his  care  by  his  dying  father  (though  that  fa- 
ther he  had  never  seen),  he  carried  through  a 
complete  course  of  liberal  education  at  his  own 
charges.  The  history  of  the  academy  at  Salem 
is  a  striking  proof  how  much  may  be  done  by  a 
zealous  and  liberal  clergyman,  not  only  io  pro- 
mote education,  but  to  direct  it  to  its  best  and 
noblest  ends.  So  long  as  he  remained  at  Salem, 
he  was  president  of  its  board  of  trustees,  and  he 
Irequently  visited  the  institution,  invited  the  pu- 
pils to  his  house,  procured  funds  for  it  from  the 
state,  and  laboured  in  every  way  to  extend  its 
usefulness.  Some,  who  were  then  among  its 
pupils,  have  since  been  members  of  both  houses 
of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  not  a  few 
have  been  useful  clergymen,  and  some  have 
filled  important  stations  in  the  judiciary  of  our 
country.  But  you  have  spoken  of  this,  as  well 
as  of  his  zealous  exertions  for  the  cause  of  edu- 
cation, in  connexion  with  Union  College.  I  may, 
however,  add  an  incident  or  two,  to  show  the 
earnestness  and  success  with  which  he  laboured 
to  make  moral  and  religious  impressions  on 
young  minds  in  the  process  of  education.  He 
was  once  entering  a  nephew  at  Union  College. 


REV.    DR.    I'ROUDFIT.  323 

It  was  at  the  time  of  commencement,  and  he 
was  at  the  room  of  one  of  the  graduates,  making 
pmxhases  of  his  furniture,  or  some  arrangement 
of  the  kind,  for  his  nephew.  The  young  gentle- 
man with  whom  he  was  making  these  arrange- 
ments was  a  fine  scholar,  and  possessed  high 
intellectual  endowments,  but  was  considered  to 
be  of  skeptical  sentiments.  My  father  inquired 
if  he  had  determined  to  what  profession  he  should 

devote  himself     '  I  shall  enter  Judge  W 's 

office  next  week,  sir,'  was  the  prompt  and  some- 
what sharp  reply.  My  father,  however,  added 
a  few  counsels,  suited  to  the  critical  moment 
when  a  youth  is  about  to  pass  through  the  nar- 
rows, as  it  were,  and  enter  on  the  great  ocean 
of  the  world  (a  moment,  the  responsibilities  and 
eventful  consequences  of  which  he  always  felt 
most  deeply),  and,  leaving  the  youth  his  best 
wishes,  departed.  A  few  weeks  after,  he  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  this  young  man,  stating  that 
those  parting  words,  however  slightingly  re- 
ceived at  the  moment,  had  fixed  themselves 
deeply  in  his  heart ;  that  they  had  awakened 
his  conscience,  and  turned  his  thoughts  to  the 
long-neglected  subject  of  religion  ;  that,  instead 

of '  entering  Judge  W 's  office,'  he  had  gone 

to  -the  retirement  of  his  mother's  house,  in  the 
country,  to  reflect  on  the  past  and  the  future ; 
that  he  had  sought  God  in  the  solitude  of  the 


324  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

forest ;  that  He,  who  had  been  heretofore  an 
'unknown  God'  to  him,  had  revealed  Himself  to 
his  soul  amid  His  own  works,  and  through  the 
study  of  His  word  and  prayer ;  that  every  breeze 
seemed  now  to  whisper  to  him  His  being  and 
His  presence,  every  flower  to  proclaim  His 
power  and  love  ;  that,  in  short,  a  wondrous  and 
blessed  change  had  come  over  his  whole  being, 
his  views  of  nature,  of  God,  and  of  himself — his 
plans  for  this  life,  and  his  expectations  of  an- 
other ;  that  he  had  found  pardon,  peace,  and 
joy  in  God  through  Christ,  and  now  desired  to 
proclaim  to  his  fellow-men  the  grace  which  had 
redeemed  him.*  He  added  a  request  that  he 
might  be  permitted  to  study  for  the  ministry  un- 
der my  father's  direction.  The  emotions  which 
overwhelmed  my  father  on  reading  this  letter, 
can  only  be  perfectly  realized  by  those  to  whom 
God  has  given  the  unspeakable  honour  and  hap- 
piness of  '  turning  a  sinner  unto  righteousness.' 
He  immediately  wrote  to  the  young  man,  in- 
viting him  to  reside  for  a  while  in  his  famil3^ 
He  did  so  for  a  year,  pursuing  his  theological 
studies  under  his  direction,  which  he  afterward 
completed  (I  believe)  at  one  of  the  public  sem- 
inaries. He  is  now  a  highly-respected  clergy- 
man of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  occupied  for 

*  This  eloquent  letter  was  lent  to  a  friend  several  years  ago, 
and,  to  our  great  regret,  has  been  lost. 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  325 

many  years  a  professorship  in  one  of  our  South- 
ern colleges. 

"  He  observed,  one  day,  a  young  man  stand- 
ing on  the  piazza  of  the  hotel,  whom  he  knew 
(though  slightly  acquainted  with  him)  to  be  a 
pupil  in  the  academy.  He  had  his  baggage  at 
his  side,  as  if  prepared  for  a  journey.  My  father 
asked  him  if  he  was  going  to  leave  the  academy. 
He  replied  that  he  was ;  and,  in  answer  to  far- 
ther kind  inquiries,  frankly  stated  that  straitened 
circumstances  had  been  the  cause  of  this  deter- 
mination. This  young  man  had  a  high  standing 
as  a  scholar,  but  had  made  no  secret  of  his  in- 
fidelity. My  father  requested  him  to  send  back 
his  baggage,  and  resume  his  studies,  and  trust 
Providence.  He  did  so,  and  he  did  not  trust  in 
vain.  This  incident  led  to  a  more  intimate  ac- 
quaintance between  him  and  my  father.  He 
became  a  frequent  visiter  at  his  house.  It 
pleased  God  to  open  his  soul  to  the  light  and 
power  of  the  truth.  My  father  baptized  him. 
He  pursued  his  studies  throughout,  entered  the 
ministry,  and  was,  for  several  years,  professor 
in  a  college.  He  has  since  resumed  the  pastoral 
relation. 

""He  had  once  appointed  a  pastoral  visitation 
and  lecture  in  a  remote  district  of  his  congrega- 
tion. The  pious  father  in  the  Church,  at  whose 
house  it  was  to  be  held,  urged  a  youth  in  his 

E    E 


326  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

employment  to  attend,  but  he  declined,  pleading 
the  soiled  condition  of  his  outer  man,  as  he  had 
been  all  day  clearing  and  burning  in  the  forest. 
The  good  man's  urgency,  however,  prevailed. 
He  attended,  and  the  Word  of  God  '  came  to 
him  with  power  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost.'  He 
laid  aside  his  axe  and  brush-hook,  studied  for 
and  entered  the  ministry  in  his  own  (the  Bap- 
tist) denomination,  and  became  an  uncommonly 
fervent  and  impressive  preacher. 

"  His  success  in  obtaining  money  for  benevo- 
lent objects  was  very  remarkable.  The  streams 
of  liberality  seemed  to  gush  forth  at  his  touch, 
where  others  reasoned  and  pleaded  in  vain.  I 
have  often  wondered  at  his  power  in  this  respect ; 
and  as  his  success  is  well  known,  and  as  the 
whole  enterprise  of  Christian  benevolence  in 
our  times — the  whole  movement  for  the  world's 
conversion — hinges  (as  far  as  the  material'is  con- 
cerned) on  the  fidelity  and  success  of  ministers 
in  this  respect,  I  have  thought  it  worth  while 
to  give  utterance  to  some  of  the  thoughts  which 
have  occurred  to  me  as  accounting  for  his  re- 
markable success  in  this  particular.  He  regard- 
ed this  as  a  distinct  and  important  branch  of  his 
duty  as  a  minister  of  Christ.  He  felt  the  full 
weight  of  the  apostolic  command,  ^charge  them 
that  are  rich  in  this  w^orld,  that  they  he  not  high- 
minded;  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but  in  the 


REV.    DR.    rilOUDFIT.  327 

living  God,  who  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to 
enjoy — that  they  do  good,  that  they  he  rich  in 
good  works — ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  com- 
municate— laying  up  in  store  for  themselves  a 
good  foundation  against  the  time  to  come,  that 
they  may  lay  hold  on  eternal  life.'  He  there- 
fore approached  his  opulent  friends  and  rela- 
tives in  this  matter  'w^ith  authority,  as  a  minis- 
ter of  Christ,'  and  with  a  mingled  solemnity  and 
tenderness,  which  was  not  often  unsuccessful. 
I  have  seldom  seen  him  so  much  dejected  and 
distressed  as  when  his  efforts  to  open  the  heart 
and  hand  of  a  rich  acquaintance  had  been  un- 
availing, or  attended  with  what  he  thought  a 
disproportionate  success,  especially  when  he 
has  spoken  of  it  after  the  death  of  the  individu- 
al ;  for  he  had  an  awful  idea  of  the  responsibil- 
ity attached  to  the  '  stewardship'  of  riches.  The 
selfishness  which  could  close  the  hand  of  a  rich 
man  against  the  claims  of  divine  love  or  suffer- 
ing humanity,  seemed  to  him  to  argue  an  almost 
hopeless  hardness  of  heart.  On  looking  at  a 
fine  mansion,  inhabited  by  one  whose  '  portion 
was  in  this  world,'  he  has  said  to  me,  '  We  may 
see  how  lightly  God  esteems  riches,  since  he 
bestow^s  them  on  such  men.'  He  felt,  and  often 
said,  that  he  was  doing  the  greatest  possible 
kindness  to  a  rich  man  and  to  his  children  by 
persuading  him  to  convert  a  portion  of  the  mam- 


328  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

mon  of  unrighteousness'  into  '  the  true  riches.^ 
The  freeness  with  which  he  gave  of  his  own, 
also,  was  well  known,  and  doubtless  conduced 
to  the  success  of  his  appeals  to  others.  In  truth, 
he  spent  sparingly,  that  he  might  give  freely. 
Christian  hospitaUty  and  charity,  and  '  charges 
to  preach  the  gospel,'  were  by  far  his  largest  ex- 
penses. It  was  a  constant  maxim  with  him,  that 
self-denial  is  the  only  source  of  a  steady,  as  well 
as  an  abundant  liberality ;  and  he  told  me,  near 
the  close  of  his  life,  that,  in  traveling,  he  had 
often  gone  without  his  dinner,  simply  with  a 
view  of  saving,  in  order  to  give.  '  Ye  know 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ'  w^as  also 
a  motive,  the  infinite  power  of  which  he  well 
knew  how  to  apply  to  the  heart  which  was  capa- 
ble of  gratitude  for  redeeming  love.  He  used 
to  say  that,  after  a  few  moments  of  spiritual 
communion  and  prayer,  the  intended  donation 
had  often  been  doubled  of  the  heart's  ow^n  mo- 
tion. When  he  pleaded  for  the  Bible  or  the 
Colonization  Society,  he  scarcely  ever  present- 
ed the  claims  of  either  charity  directly  from  the 
pulpit,  but  *  preached  the  gospel,'  relying  on  it 
as  a  talisman  of  unbounded  power  to  open  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  to  awaken  to  its  highest  en- 
ergy every  holy  motive  and  benevolent  affec- 
tion ;  and  his  wondrous  success  in  obtaining 
contributions  for  both,  especially  when  he  la- 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  329 

boured  (as  he  did  with  his  whole  heart  and  soul) 
for  the  glorious  object  of  giving  a  Bible  to  ev- 
ery household  in  the  United  States,  sufficiently 
proved  that  this  was  the  '  more  excellent  way.' 
He  always  regarded  his  labours  in  behalf  of 
these  Christian  charities  as  doubly  blessed  and 
rewarded,  by  having  brought  him  into  intimate 
intercourse  with  so  many  of  the  people  of  God. 
The  acquaintance  thus  formed  proved,  in  many 
cases,  the  commencement  of  a  Christian  corre- 
spondence and  friendship,  which  terminated  (or, 
rather,  was  briefly  interrupted)  only  by  his 
death.  A  single  instance  only  of  his  success  in 
this  work  I  shall  mention,  because  it  was  con- 
nected with  an  apparently  slight,  though,  view- 
ed in  its  important  consequences,  a  very  remark- 
able interposition  of  Providence.  He  was  on 
his  way  to  the  meeting  of  the  American  Board 
at  Boston,  in  1827,  and  had  proceeded  as  far  as 
Manchester,  in  Vermont,  intending  to  pursue 
his  journey  the  same  night,  and  had  actually  ta- 
ken his  passage  for  that  purpose  ;  but  he  was 
compelled,  by  the  indisposition  of  my  mother, 
who  accompanied  him,  to  remain  in  Manchester 
over  the  night.  He  inquired,  after  tea,  '  as  his 
custom  was,'  if  there  was  any  religious  meeting 
that  evening.  The  landlord  told  him  there  was, 
and  accompanied  him  to  it.  On  entering  the 
house,  he  was  recognised,  and  requested  to  con- 
E  E  2 


330  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

duct  the  exercises,  which  he  did.  His  attention 
was  somehow  attracted,  during  the  service,  to 
a  gentleman  present,  whose  name  he  afterward 
inquired.  The  landlord  told  him  it  was  Mr. 
Burr  (well  known  as  an  extensive  manufacturer 
of  that  place),  and  introduced  him.  Mr.  Burr 
(who  was  not  at  that  time  a  professor  of  reli- 
gion) accompanied  my  father  to  the  hotel,  and 
spent  the  remainder  of  the  evening  with  him. 
My  father  laid  before  him  the  work  and  claims 
of  the  American  Board,  and  Mr.  Burr  gave  him 
a  donation  of  a  hundred  dollars  for  it.  After 
separating  from  this  gentleman,  his  situation 
dwelt  much  upon  his  mind.  He  was  somewhat 
advanced  in  life,  in  a  feeble  state  of  health,  with- 
out children,  and  the  possessor  of  a  large  estate, 
as  were  also  the  other  members  of  his  family. 
My  father,  after  his  return  home,  addressed  a 
letter  to  him,  setting  forth  the  great  good  he 
might  accomplish  by  a  wise  and  Christian  dis- 
position of  the  large  bounty  of  Providence  in- 
trusted to  him.  Mr.  Burr  replied  in  a  manner 
which  showed  that  he  deeply  felt  the  truth  and 
importance  of  the  suggestions.  A  farther  corre- 
spondence on  the  subject,  I  believe,  followed. 
Mr.  Burr  died  shortly  after,  and  left  nearly  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  to  the  different  Chris- 
tian enterprises  of  the  day.  Among  other  large 
bequests,  he  founded  that  excellent  and  useful 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  331 

institution  which  bears  his  name,  the  Burr  Sem- 
inary, at  Manchester.  My  father  always  thought 
that  the  hand  of  God  was  singularly  visible  in 
this  matter. 

"  You  have  doubtless  spoken  fully  of  the  meth- 
ods and  results  of  his  labours  as  a  pastor ;  but 
let  me  add  one  thing.  What  appeared  to  me 
most  remarkable  about  his  ministerial  success 
was  its  uniformity  and  constancy.  The  spiritu- 
al harvests  which  he  was  permitted  to  gather  in 
were  not  only  plentiful,  but  regular.  His  suc- 
cess resembled  the  sure,  though  gentle  growth 
of  nature,  rather  than  the  rank  and  exhausting 
vegetation  forced  by  artificial  means.  The 
minds  of  those  who  w^ere  under  his  pastoral 
care  were  from  childhood  unweariedly  indoc- 
trinated in  divine  things  by  scriptural  and  cate- 
chetical instruction.  Family  religion,  and  pa- 
rental instruction  and  exhortation,  were  earnest- 
ly enforced.  The  good  seed  thus  regularly 
sown,  after  all  the  wastage  '  among  thorns'  and 
*  on  stony  ground,'  as  regularly  presented  itself 
in  the  blade  and  the  ear,  and  the  full  corn  in  the 
ear.  The  early  and  the  latter  rain  came  down 
in  their  season  on  the  heritage  of  God,  under 
his  husbandry.  There  was  no  communion,  I 
believe,  during  the  forty-three  years  of  his  la- 
bours at  Salem,  without  more  or  less  accession 
to  the  Church.     He  was  blessed,  also,  with  sev- 


332  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

eral  revivals  of  religion  ;  and  their  fruits  were 
permanent — as  much  so,  he  thought,  as  those  of 
any  other  period  of  his  ministry.  Nor  was  the 
peace  of  the  congregation  disturbed  by  the  fer- 
mentations which  too  often  follow  seasons  of  re- 
ligious excitement :  a  happy  effect,  doubtless,  of 
early  and  thorough  religious  instruction. 

"  The  strength  and  fervour  of  the  devotional 
habit  was,  perhaps,  the  most  remarkable  feature 
of  his  character.  *  Praying  in  the  spirit,'  *  pray- 
ing always,'  '  praying  everywhere,'  and  the  like 
scriptural  expressions,  were  literally  and  daily 
verified  in  him.  The  readiness  with  which  his 
soul  ascended  to  God,  in  whatsoever  place  or 
attitude  he  was,  has  often  brought  to  my  mind 
the  practice  of  holy  men  of  old :  David  sat  he- 
fore  the  Lord,and  prayed ; — Hezekiah  turned  his 
face  to  the  wall,  and  prayed  ; — the  publican  stood, 
and  prayed  ; — Paul  and  his  companions  kneeled 
down  on  the  shore,  and  prayed.  Often,  while 
we  were  sitting  and  conversing  together,  he 
would  lay  his  hand  on  my  arm,  and  then  lifting 
it  up,  without  any  change  of  posture,  breathe 
out  a  few  short  and  fervent  petitions.  After  re- 
turning from  a  walk,  on  re-entering  the  room 
he  would  push  to  the  door,  and  pray  in  the  same 
attitude  in  which  we  were  then  standing.  In 
the  midst  of  society,  he  was  often  alone  with  God, 
as  the  heavenly  expression  of  his  countenance. 


KKV.  jjii.  riiuLDriT.  333 

and  his  involuntarily  uplifted  hand  and  eye  (how 
familiar  to  all  who  knew  him !)  indicated.  He 
often  spoke  of  the  importance  of  yielding  to  the 
spirit  of  prayer  at  the  very  moment  when  His 
influence  was  felt  upon  the  soul.  In  his  jour- 
neys, during  my  early  years,  I  was  generally 
his  companion.  The  Greek  Testament  (Leus- 
den's  pocket  edition,  with  the  Latin  text  at  the 
foot)  lay  on  the  seat  of  the  gig,  and  the  cheerful 
current  of  ordinary  talk  was  often  interrupted 
by  the  direction,  *  Take  up  the  Testament.  Let 
us  have  something  more  profitable.  O  !  how 
few  of  our  words  are  given  to  God !  How  much 
of  our  life  runs  to  waste  !'  His  conversation  was 
remarkably  cheerful,  and  even  facetious,  but  his 
soul  longed  for  God,  followed  hard  after  him,  and 
could  not  endure  a  long  tarrying  amid  worldly 
associations.  A  natural  scene  of  uncommon 
beauty  would  often  call  forth  rapturous  expres- 
sions of  thanksgiving,  of  delight  in  God,  and  as- 
pirations after  him.  Mr.  Beaty,  one  of  his  excel- 
lent elders,  related  to  me  the  following  character- 
istic anecdote  after  his  death  :  '  I  once  took  your 
father  in  my  sleigh  to  fulfil  a  distant  engagement 
to  preach.  On  our  way  back,  we  passed  through 
a  beautiful  pine  grove,  which  threw  a  deep  shade 
over  the  road.  After  we  had  entered  it,  your 
father  told  my  son,  who  was  driving,  to  stop,  and 
all  who  were  in  the  sleigh  to  take  off  their  hats. 


334  MEMOIR   OF    THE 

and  offered  up  a  short,  pathetic  prayer.  O  !  I 
shall  never  forget  that  scene  in  the  pine  grove  1' 
— His  admiration  and  exquisite  enjoyment  of  na- 
ture seemed  to  form  a  part,  and  to  furnish  a  con- 
stant and  substantial  aliment  of  the  devotional 
spirit  within  him ;  being  often  expressed  in  the 
form  of  adoration  and  thanksgiving,  and  some- 
times in  the  language  of  scripture.  Often,  while 
walking  on  the  back  piazza  of  his  house,  which 
commands  a  distant  view  of  the  glorious  range 
of  Vermont  mountains,  which,  with  their  infi- 
nitely varied,  now  bolder  and  now"  gentler  un- 
dulations, subsiding  at  last  into  the  lovely  valley 
of  Salem,  form  a  perspective  of  unsurpassed 
beauty  and  grandeur,  he  would  speak  of  Him 
*  which,  by  His  strength,  setteth  fast  the  mount- 
ains, being  girded  with  power  ;  by  whose  bounty 
the  pastures  are  clothed  with  flocks,  the  valleys 
also  are  covered  over  with  corn,  and  the  httle 
hills  rejoice  on  every  side.'  I  have  thought,  my 
dear  friend,  in  reading  the  Cosmos  of  Humboldt 
(a  world  without  a  God,  I  fear),  that  if,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  other  '  sources  of  enjoyment  in  the 
contemplation  of  nature'  which  he  has  enumer- 
ated, he  had  mentioned  an '  adoring  and  thankful 
spirit,'  he  would  have  pointed  to  a  far  deeper,  as 
well  as  purer  source  of  happy  and  elevating 
emotions  than  any  which  he  has  indicated.  Dur- 
ham's Astro-Theology,  and  Ray's  Wisdom  of 


REV.    DR.    rllOUDFlT.  335 

God  in  the  Creation,  and  Sturm's  Reflections, 
were  favourite  Works  with  my  father,  from  their 
tendency  to  exhibit  an  ever-present  and  every- 
where-working Creator  in  the  marvellous  pro- 
cesses of  nature.  With  the  admirable  works 
which  our  own  age  has  produced  on  this  sub- 
ject, those,  for  example,  of  Sharon  Turner,  and 
of  the  authors  of  the  Bridgewater  Treatises,  he 
had  not,  I  believe,  much  acquaintance  ;  the  oth- 
ers he  loved  as  his  early  guides  through  nature 
to  God,  and  as  having  contributed  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  hahlt  to  which  he  owed  so  much  of  the 
enjoyment  of  life,  and  of  the  power  of  religion 
in  his  soul,  that  of  '  meeting  God,'*'  and  com- 
muning with  him  in  the  rejoicing  contemplation 
of  his  works. — He  would  often,  while  sitting  at 
table,  take  up  a  piece  of  fruit,  and  speak  of  the 
wisdom  displayed  in  its  structure,  the  tough 
coating  which  enclosed  its  juices,  the  hard  and 
impervious  cells  in  which  the  seeds  were  de- 
posited, the  slender  stem,  just  sufficient  to  sup- 
port it  till  it  had  attained  its  full  growth  and 
maturity,  and  then  dropping  it  to  the  ground. 
— Thomson's  Seasons,  which  certainly  imbody 
some  of  the  most  sublime  emotions  of  the  adoring 
soul,  he  valued  highly,  and  often  recommended 
to  the  young.  His  noble  Hymn  to  the  Deity 
he  knew  almost  by  heart,  and   often  ended  a 

*  Isai.,  Ixiv.j  5. 


330  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

descant  on  the  wonderful  works  of  God  by  re- 
peating, with  great  fervour,  the  lines, 

'  but  I  lose 
Myself  in  Him,  in  Light  ineffable. 
Come,  then,  expressive  Silence  !  muse  His  praise.' 

"  When  he  had  any  special  enterprise  in  hand, 
the  earnestness  with  which  he  spread  it  out  be- 
fore the  Lord,  and  endeavoured  to  '  lay  hold  on 
the  strength'  of  an  omnipotent  Helper,  appears 
front)  many  passages  in  his  diary.  But  when  he 
took  hold  of  the  work  of  African  colonization 
(which  he  did  not  till  after  much  and  anxious 
deliberation  and  prayer),  this  spirit  was  pecu- 
liarly manifested.  The  twilight  hours,  and  often 
a  large  part  of  the  evening,  appeared  to  be  spe- 
cially devoted  to  meditation  and  prayer  on  this 
subject.  To  his  view  (and  probably  owing,  in 
part,  to  its  being  thus  revolved  and  associated) 
it  assumed  the  grandeur  and  solemnity  of  a 
Christian  and  a  missionary  enterprise.  It  was 
bathed  in  the  spirit  of  prayer,  and  prosecuted 
with  an  ardour  with  which  he  never  engaged  in 
any  work  which  was  not  animated  by  the  love 
of  souls.  He  firmly  believed  it  to  be  the  best 
and  most  proximate  mode  as  yet  within  our  reach 
of  labouring  for  the  liberty  of  the  African  race, 
and  for  retrieving  the  grievous  wrongs  and  woes 
of  her  enslavement ;  but  this  view  of  it  would 
never  have  drawn  out  his  energies  and  affections 


REV.    DR,    PROUDFIT.  337 

to  the  extent  in  which  they  Were  actually  enlist- 
ed in  it ;  would  never  have  constrained  him  to 
spend  so  many  years  of  his  life  (and  that,  too,  at 
a  period  when  he  was  becoming  more  and  more 
indisposed  to  everything  merely  secular  oy polit- 
ical, and  more  and  more  intent  and  concentra- 
ted upon  that  which  was  properly  spiritual),  in 
labouring  for  its  advancement.  It  is  remark- 
able that,  at  this  period  of  his  life,  he  became 
more  and  more  absorbed  in  the  work  of  Afri- 
can colonization  ;  more  and  more  confident  of 
its  sublime  results,  which,  he  thought,  would 
far  exceed  the  anticipations  of  its  most  sanguine 
friends ;  more  and  more  earnest  in  his  endeav- 
ours to  fix  it  deep  and  firm  in  the  confidence  of 
the  churches.  He  thought  that  the  planting  of 
Christian  colonies  in  Africa,  and  thus  brinmns: 
before  the  view  of,  and  in  actual  contact  with 
her  native  population,  communities  enjoying  the 
blessings  of  Christianity,  law,  and  civilization, 
would  prove  incomparably  the  most  effective, 
and  powerful,  and  rapidly- working  instrumental- 
ity for  spreading  the  light  and  influence  of  the 
gospel  through  the  Continent.  He  looked  upon 
the  work  as  part  of  a  grand  Providential  scheme, 
of  which  the  enslavement  and  exile  of  the  sons 
of  Afi^ica  had  been  the  beginning,  and  of  which 
their  restoration,  Converted,  enlightened,  and 
bearing  with  them  '  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
22  F  F 


338  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

Christ,'  and  the  subsequent  conversion  of  the 
native  tribes,  would  be  the  completion.  He 
could  easily  bear  that  others  should  differ  from 
him  in  their  judgment  of  this  matter,  and  with 
some  who  thus  differed  he  continued  in  the  most 
friendly  relations ;  but  the  conduct  of  those 
who  fiercely  denounced  the  scheme,  and  the 
motives  of  those  who  originated  and  carry  it 
forward,  he  came  to  look  upon  as  sheer  wicked- 
ness or  madness.  The  misunderstandings  and 
suspicions  of  our  English  brethren  in  relation  to 
the  work,  with  the  plain  facts  of  its  history,  and 
the  spectacle  of  its  actual  success  before  them, 
and  the  testimony  of  some  of  the  most  estimable 
officers  of  their  own  navy  and  ours  to  the  high 
moral  and  social  condition  of  the  colony,  puzzled 
him  extremely ;  but  he  at  length  gave  up  all 
hope  of  their  co-operation  with  us,  and  thought 
that  it  was  our  duty  to  go  forward  with  the 
work  and  the  appliances  which  God  had  spe- 
cially confided  to  us.  The  sentiments  in  regard 
to  colonization  which  I  have  stated  above, 
abound  in  his  correspondence  and  addresses  on 
the  subject ;  but  I  have  here  given  the  irnpres- 
sions  left  on  my  mind  by  his  more  familiar  con- 
versations. It  was  in  the  view  which  I  have 
here  presented  that  it  enlisted  his  whole  heart, 
and  had  some  of  his  last  thoughts  and  pray- 
ers. 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  339 

I  have  seldom  known  a  character  so  entirely 
formed,  animated,  and  moulded  by  the  influence 
of  religion.  To  the  self-education  of  philosophy 
(which  some  have,  perhaps  successfully,  blended 
with  Christian  precepts  and  influences)  he  owed 
little ;  to  the  inward  life  and  divine  power  of 
the  gospel,  everything.  His  life  was  truly  a 
life  of  faith.  His  virtues  were  the  '  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,'  the  spontaneous  growth  of  those  Chris- 
tian principles  and  influences  in  which  the  very 
roots  and  fibres  of  his  nature  were  imbedded, 
rather  than  the  results  of  any  exact  discipline. 
His  temper  was  naturally  quick  '  as  the  spark 
from  smitten  steel,'  and,  to  some  extent,  contin- 
ued so  to  the  last.  It  was  sweetened  by  Chris- 
tian charity  rather  than  subdued  by  habitual 
self-command.  Its  subsidence  was  as  sudden  as 
its  excitation,  and  it  was  succeeded  by  the  over- 
flowing kindness  of  a  forgiving  and  a  loving 
heart.  '  A  shrewd  turn'  from  any  person  seem- 
ed to  render  him  doubly  willing  to  submit  to 
self-denial  and  effort  to  do  good  to  the  author 
of  it. — He  was  in  no  respect  a  man  of  system. 
His  warm  and  quick  impulses  prompted  him 
rather  to  leave  than  to  follow  a  much-beaten 
track.  I  know  that  he  disliked  an  enforced  ex- 
actness and  uniformity,  even  in  good  things,  and, 
in  some  instances,  where  good  men  have  gener- 
ally observed  them  :  for  example,  in  the  disposi- 


340  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

tion  of  his  income  ;  in  times  and  attitudes  of  de- 
votion, &c.  I  once  asked  him  if  he  had  laid 
down  rules  for  himself  in  a  certain  respect ;  he 
answered,  *  I  never  did  ;  /  like  to  he  free  J  Chris- 
tianity, as  developed  in  him,  was  '  a  law  of  lib- 
erty,' a  '  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life,'  and  it  was  evi- 
dently his  aim  rather  to  strengthen  and  exalt 
the  life  than  to  multiply  the  specifications  of  the 
law.  His  goodness  w^as  one  of  sanctified  feel- 
ing and  Christian  principle  rather  than  of  sys- 
tem. I  have  no  wish  to  present  this  peculiarity 
for  the  imitation  of  others ;  but,  as  every  mani- 
festation of  the  spiritual  life  is  interesting,  I  sim- 
ply state  the  fact.  Every  individual  Christian 
must,  under  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  de- 
termine (in  matters  of  mere  method)  what  is  best 
suited  to  his  own  character  and  circumstances. 
"  His  laborious  tours  to  preach  the  gospel 
among  the  early  settlers  of  the  North  and  West 
appear  from  your  memoir  ;  but  the  rich  source 
of  grateful  and  pleasing  recollections  which 
these  voluntary  labours  furnished  to  his  later 
years  is  worthy  of  being  mentioned,  as  an  en- 
couragement to  '  abound  always  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord.'  I  verily  believe  that  the  simple  ret- 
rospect of  these  tours  was  more  than  a  compen- 
sation for  all  the  toil  and  self-denial  to  which 
they  subjected  him  : — how  he  slept  on  a  bed  of 
pine  boughs,  and  got  up  repeatedly  in  the  night 


REV.    DR.    rROUDIflT.  341 

to  rest  himself;  how  he  was  compelled  to  get 
off  his  horse  in  the  night,  in  one  of  the  vast  for- 
ests of  the  West,  and,  on  his  hands  and  knees, 
to  feel  for  the  road  which  he  had  lost ;  how, 
when  he  and  his  companion  had  provided  them- 
selves with  an  ample  store  of  good  tea  for  their 
journey,  the  landlady,,  at  one  of  their  earliest 
lodging-places,  turned  in  the  whole  stock  at  one 
infusion ;  how  he  was  so  tortured  with  the  mos- 
chetoes,  that  he  got  up  at  night  and  drew  on  his 
riding-boots,  determined  to  protect  at  least  so 
much  of  his  person  from  their  attacks  ;  the  din- 
ner of  potatoes  and  salt  at '  the  cottage  with  the 
blanket  door,'  where  he  had  to  pull  and  husk  the 
corn  to  feed  his  own  horse,  and  yet  found,  in  the 
contentment  and  joy  of  a  pious  and  deeply  expe- 
rienced soul,  how  little  is  enough  with  the  grace 
of  God  : — these  were  among  the  adventures 
which  he  used  to  relate.  He  often  spoke,  too, 
of  the  delight  with  which  he  used  to  look  upon 
the  '  human  face  divine,'  when,  at  long  intervals, 
he  met  any  one,  even  though  a  poor  Indian,  in 
the  solitary  forests  through  which  the  road  lay ; 
that  sometimes  he  rode  a  whole  day  and  found 
but  one  abode,  and  that  a  log  hut ;  and  that, 
where  the  beautiful  city  of  Utica  now  stands, 
there  was,  at  his  first  visit  to  that  region,  only  a 
solitary  shanty.  He  has  told  me  that  he  was  at 
one  time  so  exhausted,  and  his  system  so  deran- 
Ff2 


342  MEMulll    OF    THE 

ged  by  scanty  and  bad  food,  that  he  could  scarce- 
ly endure  the  sight  of  food  ;  and  that  one  night, 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario,  he  rose  from  his 
bed  at  midnight,  and  walked  down  to  the  shore, 
and  sat  upon  the  sand,  neve?^  expecting  to  see  his 
home  again.  One  of  my  earliest  recollections 
is  that  of  seeing  him  mounting  his  horse,  along 
with  his  valiant  friend  and  '  companion  in  the 
gospel,'  the  Rev.  John  Dunlap,  for  one  of  his 
Northern  tours,  my  mother  weeping  by  his  side, 
and  looking  after  them  till  they  vanished  over 
the  hill  which  forms  the  northern  limit  of  the 
view  from  our  house  ;  and  any  one  who  knew 
how  exquisitely  he  loved  his  family  and  enjoyed 
his  home  can  realize  how  much  he  must  have 
been  '  pressed  in  spirit'  to  have  subjected  him- 
self to  such  a  sacrifice.  But  the  eagerness  with 
which  the  people  of  those  sparse  and  distant 
settlements  listened  to  the  Word  of  Life,  the  joy 
with  which  they  welcomed  him,  the  tears  with 
which  they  often  entreated  him  to  stay  with 
them,  if  it  were  but  one  Sabbath  more,  saying 
*  that  his  people  could  easily  spare  him  for  one 
week,  but  that  it  would  be  long  before  they 
would  look  on  a  preacher  of  the  gospel  again — ' 
these  things  sustained  and  repaid  him.  He  used 
to  say  that  those  who  were  accustomed  to  the 
coldly  decent  attendance  of  congregations,  who 
heard  '  the  voices  of  the  prophets  every  Sabbath 


REV.  DR.   PIIOUDFIT.  343 

day,'  could  not  realize  the  emotion  often  mani- 
fested by  those  whose  appetite  had  been  quick- 
ened by  a  long  '  famine  of  the  Word  of  God.' 
In  one  of  his  Northern  tours,  when  he  travelled 
in  a  sleigh,  he  visited  a  settlement  in  which  there 
were  but  two  families,  who  were  distant  from 
each  other.  He  went  to  one  of  the  houses,  took 
the  whole  family  into  his  sleigh,  and  carried 
them  to  the  other,  where  he  preached,  *  and 
there  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  the  house.'  In  one 
of  these  Northern  excursions  he  took  a  severe 
cold,  which  fastened  deeply  on  his  lungs,  and  he 
thought  it  impossible  he  could  survive  the  dread- 
ful severity  of  the  weather.  He  used  to  speak 
of  one  memorable  night,  when,  in  this  situation, 
he  lay  on  a  hard  bed,  with  insufficient  covering, 
*  shivering  with  the  intense  cold,  unable  to  sleep, 
and  thinking  on  the  sovereignty  of  God,  who 
had  so  differently  dispensed  his  gifts  to  the  chil- 
dren of  men.'  From  that  journey  he  returned 
with  a  deeply-seated  cough,  which  did  not  leave 
him  for  several  months.  He  used  to  speak  of 
these  things  with  admiration  for  the  supporting 
and  restoring  goodness  of  God,  when,  past  three- 
score years  and  ten,  in  a  hale  and  cheerful  old 
age,  he  had  outlived  almost  all  his  early  com- 
panions, which  was  the  more  remarkable,  as  his 
health  had  been  so  frail  in  the  early  years  of  his 
ministry  that  he  was  repeatedly  thought  to  be 


o44  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

in  a  consumption.  There  have  certainly  been 
some,  remarkable  instances  in  which  Christ  has 
sustained,  and  even  restored  his  servants,  in  the 
midst  of  labours  and  exposures  which  were,  ap- 
parently, quite  beyond  their  natural  strength. 
They  '  who  have  hazarded  their  lives  for  the 
Lord  Jesus,'  have  not  always  forfeited  them. 
They  have  sometimes  been,  to  all  appearance, 
prolonged  beyond  the  limit  which  they  would 
naturally  have  reached. 

"  There  was  one  incident  of  his  tours  in  the 
distant  West  which  seems  worthy  of  being  pre- 
served. He  had  heard  of  the  illness  of  an  aged 
Indian  chief  at  some  distance,  and,  procuring  an 
interpreter,  he  went  to  visit  (what  proved  to  be) 
his  death-bed.  While  he  spoke  to  him  of  the 
freeness  and  fulness  of  the  salvation  of  Jesus, 
the  old  man  '  laid  his  hand  on  his  heart,  and, 
lifting  up  his  eyes,  gave  thanks  to  the  great  Spir- 
it, w^ho  had  sent  him  to  speak  to  him  of  the  Sav- 
iour.' He  often  alluded  to  this  as  one  of  the 
most  affecting  death-scenes  he  had  ever  wit- 
nessed. 

"  In  no  respect  was  his  piety  more  lovely  than 
in  its  domestic  manifestations.  Morning  and 
evening  prayers  were  indeed  a  '  perpetual  sacri- 
fice.' Sometimes  the  family  were  assembled 
for  a  few  moments  after  dinner  for  reading  the 
scriptures,  singing,  and  prayer,  but  not  always. 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.     .  345 

'  We  must  take  care  not  to  make  the  service  of 
our  God  a  w^eariness/  was  a  frequent  remark 
with  him.  The  morning  and  evening  devotions 
were  begun  with  singing — he  was  displeased  if 
any  voice  was  silent  in  this  act  of  thanksgiving  ; 
a  portion  of  scripture  was  then  read,  which 
was  done  in  course,  each  one  reading  a  verse  in 
turn,  an  occasional  remark  or  anecdote  being 
thrown  in,  suited  to  illustrate  and  impress  upon 
the  heart  and  conscience  the  truth  of  God. 
Sometimes  his  extemporaneous  services  in  pub- 
lic were  prolonged  to  an  extent  which  he  him- 
self regretted — for  he  equally  disapproved  it  in 
others  and  in  himself — but  his  prayers  in  the 
family  were  always  short.  Here  all  were  made 
to  feel  their  equality ;  the  humblest  member  of 
*  the  church  in  the  house'  being  called  upon  to 
read  and  repeat  hymns  and  portions  of  scripture 
in  turn.  I  have  heard  him  speak  strongly  of  the 
pain  he  felt  when,  in  the  house  of  a  pious  friend 
in  the  South,  he  saw  the  servants  standing  du- 
ring family  prayers.  He  '  watched  over  the 
souls*  intrusted  to  him  in  his  domestic  as  well  as 
pastoral  relation,  and  his  fidelity  in  this  respect 
was  often  blessed.  A  youth  who  was  in  ser- 
vice in  his  family  for  two  years,  and  was  un- 
commonly profane  and  hardened,  and  showed 
no  signs  of  religious  impression,  wrote  to  him, 
twenty  years  after,  from  one  of  the  new  settle- 


340  MEMulil    OF    THE 

merits  to  which  he  had  migrated,  saying  that 
the  remembrance  of  the  instructions,  which  had 
made  so  httle  impression  at  the  time,  had  been 
the  means  of  awakening  and  bringing  him  to 
God  when  far  distant  from  religious  privileges  ; 
that  he  had  joined  the  Church,  had  for  many 
years  been  enabled  to  walk  with  the  people  of 
God,  and  was  now  an  elder  of  the  church  in  the 
place  where  he  resided.  This  man  was  after- 
ward very  useful  in  distributing  books  and  tracts 
for  him. — Many  were  his  expedients  to  store  the 
mind  with  the  Word  of  God.  Large  portions 
of  it  were  committed  to  memory,  and  sometimes, 
after  a  chapter  or  a  psalm  had  been  read,  all 
were  called  upon,  with  closed  books,  to  repeat 
what  they  could  remember  of  what  had  been 
read :  an  invaluable  exercise,  for  the  readiness 
which  it  tends  to  form  in  the  recollection  and 
citation  of  scripture.  The  family  repasts  were 
varied  and  made  instructive  by  questions  on 
history  and  other  useful  and  entertaining  sub- 
jects, where  emulation  awakened  the  youthful 
mind  and  pleasure  opened  it  to  instruction. 
How  slowly  and  reluctantly  often  was  that  fam- 
ily breakfast-party  broken  up  !  On  the  Sab- 
bath, these  questions  were  directed  to  scriptural 
facts.,  especially  to  the  resurrection  of  our  Lord, 
and  often  to  the  early  history  of  the  Church. 
'  What  did  the  primitive  Christians  call  the  Sab- 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  34't 

bath  V  '  Reglna  dierum'  (the  queen  of  days). 
This  question  and  answer  were  repeated  often 
enough  to  throne  in  our  thoughts  '  the  blessed 
and  hallowed  day'  in  majesty  and  supremacy 
over  all  other  days.  The  manner,  too,  in  which 
it  was  observed  by  the  early  Christians  was  the 
frequent  subject  of  question.  After  church,  we 
were  allowed  to  walk  out  with  our  books  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees,  and  sweetly  did  the  even- 
ing hours  often  glide  away  in  conversations 
about  the  lives,  works,  persecutions,  and  deaths 
of  good  men.  The  Nonconformists'  Memorial* 
sometimes  furnished  the  starting-point  for  these 
conversations,  or  a  sermon  or  portion  of  a  com- 
mentary read,  led,  by  an  easy  digression,  to 
speak  of  the  way  in  which  the  holy  author  lived 
and  died.  His  aim  certainly  was  to  maintain  a 
strict  observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  yet  to  di- 
vest it,  as  far  as  possible,  of  everything  like  se- 
verity and  weariness ;  to  throw  over  it  a  min- 
gled air  o{  sanctity  and  cheerfulness :  and  I  think 
he  succeeded  to  a  surprising  degree.  I  find,  at 
least,  this  complex  idea  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  day 
of  repose,  of  joy,  of  heavenly  contemplation,  in- 
delibly imprinted  on  my  own  mind,  and  I  feel 
that  I  owe  it  to  early  associations.     He  encour- 

*  Merle  d'Aubigne's  admirable  History  of  the  Reformation, 
M'Crie's  of  the  Reformations  in  Italy  and  Spain,  and  Hethering- 
ton's  of  the  Scottish  Church,  would  open  a  wide  range,  and  sug- 
gest innumerable  topics  for  such  conversations. 


348  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

aged  all  his  children  to  learn  music,  instrument- 
al as  well  as  vocal,  on  the  principle  that  it  add- 
ed to  the  delights  and  attractions  of  home, 
which  he  used  to  represent  as,  next  to  divine 
grace,  the  greatest  safeguard  of  virtue.  At  our 
domestic  concerts,  gay  as  well  as  grave,  he  was 
a  delighted  attendant,  and  '  pleasing,  yet  mourn- 
ful to  the  soul'  is  the  memory  of  them  !  His 
parental  discipline,  though  it  included  the  scrip- 
tural and  indispensable  element  of  severity  (for 
he  was  too  much  of  a  literalist  to  depart  from 
so  plain  a  teaching  of  the  Word  of  God),  yet, 
on  the  whole,  was  mild  and  indulgent,  possibly 
to  ap  extreme ;  and  yet,  I  am  sure,  the  thought 
of  wounding  that  kind  and  noble  heart  was,  of 
all  earthly  influences,  the  strongest  to  withhold 
his  children  from  wrong. — It  is  at  the  instance 
of  a  highly-respected  friend  that  I  have  attempt- 
ed, though  too  feebly  executed,  this  '  domestic 
portraiture.'  Would  to  God  that  I  could  paint 
to  the  life  the  pure  joys  and  happy  memories 
that  cluster  about  a  Christian  Jiome — that  spot 
to  which,  in  the  midst  of  this  bleak  and  thorny 
world,  some  of  the  fruits  and  flowers  of  our  na- 
tive Paradise  seem  to  have  been  transplanted. 
Lovely  to  the  eye  of  memory  is  that  sweet  and 
sheltered  mansion, '  bosomed  high  in  tufted  trees.* 
the  light  struggling  and  quivering  through  the 
leaves   of  elms,  locusts,  and   evergreens  ;  the 


REV.-  DR.  PROUDFIT.  349 

*  bow- window'  of  the  eastern  parlour  looking  out 
on  a  '  fresh,  smooth-shaven  lawn,'  terminated  by 
a  row  of  venerable  elms  on  the  grounds  of 
Colonel  Williams;  his  own  study,  directly  over 
it,  commanding,  in  addition  to  this,  a  part-view 
of  the  *  shadowy  mountains'  of  Vermont ;  the 
very  air  of  the  place — the  '  genius  loci' — seem- 
ing to  conduce  to  peace  and  contemplation. 
There  Christian  hospitality  spread  its  banquet 
and  gave  its  welcome  ;  there,  many  a  weary 
servant  of  God  rested  on  his  way,  for  his  name 
and  calling  were  always  a  sufficient  introduction. 
Many  a  '  stricken  deer'  sought  shelter  beneath 
those  shades ;  many  a  heart,  broken  by  adver- 
sity, was  healed  there  by  the  balm  of  hospitable 
kindness  and  Christian  consolation ;  many  a 
frame,  shattered  by  missionary  or  pastoral  la- 
bour, was  recruited  there.  I  have  seen  at  one 
time  a  whole  missionary  family  enjoying  its 
cheer  on  their  way  to  the  Indians  of  the  West, 
and,  at  another,  Commodore  M'Donough  with 
his  officers,  after  the  brilliant  victory  of  Lake 
Champlain.  The  honour  of  '  entertaining  an- 
gels,' in  the  guise  of  God's  humble  people,  he 
used  to  look  upon  and  speak  of  as  one  of  the 
greatest  that  could  be  put  upon  a  Christian  man- 
sion, and  to  this  congenial  circle,  his  hospitality, 
which  was  at  first  general  and  indiscriminate, 
was  more  and  more  restricted.  '  Peace  was 
Gg 


350  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

upon  that  house,'  for  '  the  Son  of  Peace'  was 
there.  And  if  there  be  a  spot  on  earth  which 
presents  a  picture  of  heaven,  it  is  the  abode  in 
which  the  bounty  of  providence  is  thus  conse- 
crated and  thus  enjoyed. 

"  His  warm  love  of  country,  and  the  deep  in- 
terest which  he  took  in  -public  events,  is  a  trait 
which  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  pass  over  in 
silence,  especially  as  the  opinion  is  sometimes 
expressed  that  the  duties  of  a  Christian  minister 
are  incompatible  with  those  of  a  citizen,  or,  at 
least,  furnish  in  some  sort  an  exemption  from 
them.  He  held  no  such  opinion,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  maintained  that  the  deposite  of  his  vote 
was  at  once  a  right  of  which  nothing  could  de- 
prive him,  and  a  duty  from  which  nothing  could 
exonerate  him.  He  had  a  high  idea  of  the  duty 
of  an  intelligent,  calm,  and  conscientious  exer- 
cise of  the  right  of  suffrage  by  every  Christian 
citizen ;  and  I  have  known  him  (then  an  old 
man)  very  patiently  and  firmly  to  wait  and 
make  his  way  to  the  polls  amid  the  turbulent 
scenes  which  sometimes  occurred  in  the  city  of 
New- York  in  1835-8,  now  happily,  and  w^e  hope 
forever,  done  away  by  the  improved  arrange- 
ments for  the  election.  He  was,  in  his  opinions 
and  spirit,  thoroughly  an  American  and  a  Re- 
puhlicaii,  and  had  great  confidence  in  the  well- 
working  and  lasting  of  our  political  system.  I 
recollect  an  amusing  instance  of  the  excitation 


REV.  DR.   PROUDFIT.  351 

of  this  patriotic  spirit.  He  was  waiting,  with  a 
friend,  at  the  hotel  in  Whitehall,  for  the  arrival 

of  General ,  with  whom  they  were  to  have 

an  interview  on  some  business.  Two  English 
travellers  were  present  in  the  public  room  of 
the  hotel,  belonging,  doubtless,  to  that  class  who 
at  once  disgrace  their  own  country  and  calum- 
niate ours,  and  are  equally  the  enemies  of  both. 

General  at  length  drove  up  to  the  door,  in 

a  very  light  and  unpretending  undress,  for  the 
weather  was  excessively  hot.  '  That'  said  one 
of  the  travellers,  '  is  an  American  general  /' 
My  father  quietly  observed  that  *  we  were  too 
near  to  Lake  Champlain  to  speak  slightingly  of 
American  officers.'  One  of  the  most  stirring 
recollections  of  his  early  years  was  the  having 
witnessed,  when  a  member  of  Columbia  College, 
the  inauguration  of  General  Washington  as  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States,  and  the  grave  and 
commanding  aspect  and  bearing  of  the  Father 
of  his  Country.  He  delighted  to  pay  a  marked 
respect  to  the  surviving  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  and  I  shall  never  forget 
the  manner  in  which  he  introduced  the  venera- 
ble and  excellent  Major  Popham*  to  a  circle  of 
friends  at  Saratoga :  *  I  feel  that  we  owe  the 
most  profound  respect  and  the  deepest  gratitude 

*  Now  ninety-three  years  old  ;  the  only  surviver  of  the  staff  and 
the  fannily  of  Washington,  to  whom  he  was  aifMe-camp. 


352  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

to  those  brave  and  venerable  men  by  whom  our 
country's  liberties  were  achieved,  and  to  whom, 
under  God,  we  are  indebted  for  the  great  bless- 
ings we  enjoy  as  American  freemen.'  The 
major  replied  with  characteristic  courtesy,  and 
expressed  his  deep  sense  of  the  obligations  of 
our  country  to  religion  and  its  ministers. — He 
often  dwelt  on  the  marvellous  care  of  divine 
providence  as  manifested  from  first  to  last  in 
our  national  history,  by  which  a  handful  of 
weeping,  praying  exiles  on  the  rock  of  Ply- 
mouth had  spread  out  into  '  a  nation,  great, 
mighty,  and  populous.'  As  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  thus  contemplating  national  affairs 
and  prospects  from  the  watchtower  of  faith,  he 
always  hoped  well  for  the  Republic.  The  reason 
which  he  gave  for  doing  so  was  characteristic. 
At  a  time  when  the  state  of  political  parties  por- 
tended great  danger,  a  friend  remarked  to  him 
that  we  seemed  to  be  on  the  brink  of  a  preci- 
pice. *  Well,'  he  replied,  '  it  seemed  so  fifty 
years  ago,  and  has  often  since,  but  God  has 
somehow  always  interposed  ;  and  as  long  as 
Christians  in  this  land  are  labouring  and  pour- 
ing out  their  wealth  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel 
through  the  world,  I  have  no  idea  that  God  will 
forsake  us  as  a  nation.  If  we  take  care  of  his 
cause,  he  will  take  care  of  our  liberties.'  He 
often  expressed  the  same  anticipation  in  relation 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  353 

to  England.  May  God  fulfil  it  in  behalf  of  both 
nations,  and  cherish  in  the  very  heart  of  both 
the  true  conservative  spirit — the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tian faith  and  benevolence  ! 

"  His  estimate  of  afflictions  was  that  of  a  mind 
accustomed  to  comprehensive  vievs^s  of  the  plan 
of  divine  providence,  and  judging  of  all  things 
under  '  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come.'  '  I 
have  never  met  with  a  single  instance  of  adver- 
sity which  I  have  not  afterward  seen  to  be  for 
my  good.'  '  I  have  never  heard  a  Christian  on 
his  death-bed  complaining  of  his  afflictions.' 
These  remarks  he  made  near  the  close  of  his 
life.  Once,  on  hearing  it  stated  that  an  eminent 
minister  of  the  gospel,  who  had  been  visited 
with  severe  afflictions,  had  of  late  preached  oft- 
ener  and  more  eloquently  than  for  many  years 
before,  he  smiled,  and  said  to  this  effect, '  I  have 
no  doubt  of  it.  Oh  how  blessed  is  sanctified 
affliction !'  He  used  to  speak  of  a  young  and 
highly  intellectual  and  accomplished  friend,  who 
was  manifestly  on  the  path  to  ruin,  and  for 
whom  '  prayer  was  made  to  God  continually'  by 
pious  friends,  for  a  long  time  apparently  with- 
out success.  God  at  length  arrested  him,  and 
brought  him  to  the  feet  of  Christ  by  a  disease 
which  prostrated  his  frame,  broke  the  pride  of 
his  intellect,  and  rooted  out  his  sensual  passions, 
though  it  entailed  on  him  a  life  of  almost  inces- 
23  G  G  2 


354  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

sant  suffering.  He  cited  this  as  an  instance  of 
the  sovereignty  of  God's  methods  in  '  fulfilling 
the  desire  of  them  that  fear  him  ;'  the  '  terrible 
things  in  righteousness'  by  which  he  *  answers' 
them.     Newton's  admirable  hymn, 

'  I  asked  the  Lord  that  I  might  grow,'  &c., 

he  greatly  admired  as  a  history  of  the  spiritual 
progress  of  every  believer,  exemplifying  the 
same  truth.  He  often  spoke  of  the  dryness  and 
formality  of  our  prayers  while  in  an  outwardly 
comfortable  and  prosperous  state,  compared 
with  the  energy  with  which  the  suffering  soul 
pleads  with  God,  and  pours  itself  out  before  him. 
— '  Whether  God  smiles  or  smites,  it  is  always  in 
love.' — It  is  incredible  what  calmness  and  strength 
this  habit  of  considering  all  things  as  '  of  God,' 
and  of  viewing  the  present  and  future  life  of  man 
as  one  continuous  scene,  gave  him  in  '  suffering 
afflictions,'  of  which,  notwithstanding  the  seem- 
ing prosperity  of  his  lot,  he  had  some  which 
were  peculiarly  keen  and  bitter,  as  well  as  long- 
continued.  It  became,  I  may  say,  a  part  of  his 
theory  of  the  spiritual  life,  that  every  soul  which 
God  intends  to  sanctify  and  deliver  from  worldly 
influences  must  pass  through  a  period  of  severe 
and  varied  trial.  He  thought  that  this  period 
in  his  own  life  lasted  for  something  more  than 
ten  years. 

"  I  have  often  thought,  my  dear  friend,  that 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  355 

pious  cheerfulness  and  joy  in  old  age  are  like  the 
flowers  that  bloom  late  in  autumn  ;  peculiarly 
warm,  rich,  and  cheering  in  contrast  with  the 
bleak  and  wintry  condition  of  nature  around ; 
breathing  at  once  of  the  spring  that  is  past,  and 
of  the  yet  more  glorious  spring  that  is  to  come. 
I  verily  believe  that  my  father's  last  two  years 
were  the  happiest  of  his  life  ;  so  calm  was  he  ; 
so  confiding  in  God,  in  his  promises,  in  himself; 
so  delighting  in  the  least  thing  in  nature,  every 
flower  that  he  plucked,  every  scene  that  he 
looked  upon ;  so  happj^  in  his  friends ;  so  full 
of  good- will,  kindness,  and  hope  towards  all  men. 
His  thoughts  of  the  love  of  God  seemed  pecu- 
liarly to  expand  towards  the  close  of  his  life.  Of 
the  great  themes  of  the  gospel,  his  mind  seemed 
more  and  more  to  dwell  on  the  glorious  revela- 
tion, '  God  is  love.'  He  was  sometimes  deeply 
affected  in  speaking  of  the  love  of  God,  and  of 
his  great  purposes  towards  man  redeemed  and 
restored  in  Christ.  Even  the  manifold  provision 
made  for  his  happiness  here ;  the  '  kind  illusions 
of  the  wondering  sense,'  which  render  this  world, 
fallen  as  it  is,  so  magnificent  and  well-furnished 
an  abode  for  an  intellectual  and  imaginative 
creature,  he  spoke  of  with  much  emotion  ;  but 
with  greater  still  of  those  breakings  forth  of  far 
higher  designs  and  glories  yet  to  he  revealed  in 
the  gospel.     I  remember  his  speaking  to  me  on 


356  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

this  subject,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  future  mani- 
festations of  it  towards  his  human  offspring, 
while  we  were  walking  together  in  the  country 
a  few  months  before  his  death,  in  such  a  way 
that  the  spot,  the  attitude,  the  expression  of  his 
countenance  at  that  moment  will  never  pass 
away  from  my  memory. 

"  It  seemed  to  me  remarkable,  too,  that,  as  he 
approached  the  close  of  life,  his  worship  was 
more  and  more  offered  in  the  form  oi  praise. 
When  he  proposed  a  hymn,  it  was  almost  daily 
one  of  these  : 

*  From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies  !' 
or, 

*  Behold  the  glories  of  the  Ijamb !' 
'  Before  his  Father's  throne  !' 

or, 

*  Behold  the  saints  beloved  of  God  !' 

or  something  that,  in  a  like  strain,  celebrates  the 
glories  of  Christ,  the  joys  of  the  heavenly  state, 
or  the  certainty  and  greatness  of  the  Redeem- 
er's triumph  in  the  world. 

"  But  I  must  hasten  to  the  closing  scene.  He 
often  expressed,  in  his  latter  years,  the  wish  that 
his  work  and  his  life  might  end  together.  He 
loved  life,  it  is  true,  with  that  peculiar  strength 
and  tenacity  which  characterize  all  active  and 
sanguine  temperaments,  and  sometimes  said, 
*  well,  the  day  of  our  departure  cannot  be  far 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  357 

off;  but,  for  my  part,  I  am  not  in  haste  for  mine. 
It  is  pleasant  to  stay  and  see  the  progress  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,'  &c.,  &c.  Yet  the  fear  of 
surviving  to  a  state  of  imbecihty  of  mind  and 
body  was  observed  to  disquiet  him  occasionally 
during  the  last  tw^o  or  three  years  of  his  Kfe. 
He  w^as  noticed  to  be  unusually  dejected  after 
seeing  an  old  friend  who  had  fallen  into  this 
state  (so  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  recognise  him), 
and  several  times  anxiously  inquired  whether 
we  observed  any  failure  in  his  mental  powers. 
It  is  said  that  Arnaud  committed  all  the  Psalms 
of  David  to  memory,  in  order  to  furnish  himself 
with  the  materials  of  meditation  after  the  power 
of  acquisition  should  be  lost ;  Beza  could  repeat 
all  the  Psalms  in  Hebrew  after  he  was  eighty 
years  old ;  and  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  divine 
and  spiritual  thoughts  and  truths  do  live  and 
flourish  in  the  mind  after  the  general  desolation 
of  its  powers  and  loss  of  its  acquirements  ;* 
whether  it  be  that  their  relation  to  the  soul  is 
more  intimate,  and  therefore  more  enduring,  or 
that  they  belong  to  the  future  rather  than  the 
past,  and  so  remain  with  us  after  our  hold  upon 
the  past  is  lost.  Be  the  cause  as  it  may,  they 
are  a  sort  of  mental  evergreens,  and  *  still  bring 
forth  fruit  in  old  age.' — My  father  relied  much 

*  A  beautiful  instance  of  this  occurs  in  the  account  of  the  last 
hours  of  the  excellent  Bishop  Wilson,  by  his  chaplain. 


358  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

on  the  recollection  of  scripture  during  his  latter 
days,  and  said  to  an  intimate  friend,  within 
the  year  before  his  death,  *I  am  committing 
hymns  to  strengtiien  my  memory.^  One  morning, 
which  he  spent  in  a  rail-car  (as  he  afterward 
told  my  wife),  he  employed  in  recollecting  and 
revolving  the  whole  of  the  Assembly's  Cate- 
chism, whose  lucid  and  comprehensive  defini- 
tions of  Divine  truths  he  always  greatly  ad- 
mired.— It  pleased  God  #o  *  grant  him  the  desire 
of  his  heart,'  which  I  have  mentioned  above. 
He  was  never  permitted  to  know  the  'labour  and 
sorrow'  of  an  infirm  old  age.  While  he  was 
busily  engaged  in  his  work,  his  sun  was,  unper- 
ceived,  going  down,  and,  just  as  his  task  was 
finished,  his  eternal  rest  began.  He  sank,  like  a 
worn-out  veteran  in  his  full  armour,  on  a  well- 
fought  battle-field,  and  '  death  was  swallowed  up 
in  victory !' 

"  It  had  been  his  fixed  intention  to  spend  the 
closing  years  of  his  life  at  liberty  from  public 
and  official  engagements.  This  he  thought  an 
old  man's  privilege  ;  and  he  used  to  say  *  it  was 
better  to  withdraw  a  little  too  soon,  than  to  wait 
till  all  but  ourselves  were  convinced  that  it  was 
time.'  The  retirement  he  contemplated  was 
not  one  of  inaction.  '  Preparation  for  that  eter- 
nity on  which  he  must  shortly  expect  to  enter' 
was,  indeed,  to  occupy  much  of  it.     But  he  ho- 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  359 

ped  to  render  such  general  services  to  the  Church 
of  Christ  as  his  age  should  permit  and  provi- 
dence direct  to.  To  revise  and  republish  some 
of  his  works — to  visit  extensively  the  churches 
^f-'":?  Qv  .on — to  promote  the  inter- 

i  i  .  ^uiogioal  Seminary,  and  to  advance 
the  cause  of  colonization,  were,  I  know,  distinct 
objects  which  he  had  in  view.  He  resigned  the 
office  of  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Colo- 
nization Society  in  the  winter  of  1841-2.  The 
solicitations  of  many  friends  induced  him,  how- 
ever, to  postpone  this  step  for  one  year,  but  he 
consummated  it  in  the  following  winter.  He 
was  then  undetermined  whether  to  return  and 
spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  his  own 
house  at  Salem,  which  had  been  unoccupied 
(except  by  a  part  of  the  family  during  the  sum- 
mer months)  since  he  had  left  it,  or  to  reside 
with  us  at  New-Brunswick.  How  many  of  our 
doubts  are  solved  by  time  and  providence !  An- 
other mansion  was  in  preparation  for  him  ;  oth- 
er services  than  those  which  he  had  contempla- 
ted awaited  him. 

"  Near  the  end  of  the  winter  of  1843  he  was 
confined  to  the  house,  and  almost  entirely  to  his 
room,  by  an  inflammation  of  the  eyes.  An  un- 
usual sadness  seemed  to  oppress  him.  Though 
the  rooms  were  darkened,  to  enable  him  to  share 
the  family  repasts,  he  did  not  often  join  us,  and 


360  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

could  seldom  be  detained  in  the  family  circle  af- 
ter eight  o'clock  in  the  evening.  '  Come,  take 
a  book  and  read  to  me  ;  I  am  tired  of  medita- 
ting,' he  would  sometimes  say,  after  passing  a 
long  time  in  silent  thought,  to  the  unceasing 
companion  of  his  darkened  room,  whose  love 
had  '  ministered  to  him'  through  all  hours  and 
changes  for  nearly  fifty  years.  Meditation, 
prayer,  and  hearing  the  Scriptures  and  books 
of  a  devotional  character  read  to  him,  occupied 
these  solitary  hours.  They  seemed  a  providen- 
tial preparation  for  the  scenes  which  were  so 
soon  to  follow. 

"  He  recovered,  however,  and  enjoyed  for  a 
week  or  two  an  unusually  fine  state  of  health 
and  spirits.  He  had,  as  you  remember,  agreed 
to  assist  you  in  gathering  in  the  fruits  of  a  revi- 
val with  which  you  w^ere  then  blessed,  and  had 
gone  as  far  as  New- York  on  his  way  to  fulfil 
this  engagement,  with  the  intention  of  going  up 
the  river  the  next  day.  In  the  evening,  in  com- 
ing out  of  a  heated  committee-room  (of  the 
Young  Men's  Bible  Society,  I  think)  into  the 
cold  air,  he  took  a  severe  cold.  He  awoke  in 
the  night,  and  said,  *  I  feel  very  strangely.  I 
will  not  attempt  to  go  to  Newburgh.'  I  arrived 
in  town,  as  providence  ordered  it,  early  in  the 
morning.  As  soon  as  he  saw  me,  he  said,  '  I 
will  go  home  with  you  to-day.     I  am  very  un- 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  361 

well.'  On  our  way  over  he  seldom  spoke,  but 
said,  once  or  twice,  *  how  unexpected  !  yester- 
day I  was  perfectly  well.'  When  we  arrived  at 
my  house,  he  took  my  arm  (a  support  he  seldom 
accepted),  and  went  up,  very  feebly,  to  his  own 
room,  to  leave  it  no  more  till  his  departure  to 
another  world. 

"  I  know,  my  dear  friend,  how  much  the  im- 
pressiveness  of  *  dying  thoughts'  is  increased  by 
the  sad  concomitants  of  the  scene,  the  broken 
voice,  the  deathlike  countenance,  the  slow  and 
solemn  emphasis.  Still,  the  very  words  of  a  dy- 
ing man  are  generally  deeply  interesting  as  well 
as  instructive  ;  and  I  add  such  of  my  father's 
as  I  noted  down  at  the  time,  which  I  soon  began 
to  do,  for  the  rapid  progress  of  his  disease  (a 
catarrhal  fever)  speedily  made  it  manifest  that 
'  his  days  drew  near  that  he  should  die.' 

"  Soon  after  he  was  taken,  after  lying  for  some' 
time  in  thought,  he  exclaimed,  *  grace  reigns 
through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life  by  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord  !  I  have  preached  his  truth 
and  grace,  and  now  it  is  my  comfort.  The 
Lord  can  easily  scatter  this  cloud.  He  can 
bring  me  back  from  the  mouth  of  the  grave.  If 
it  be  his  will,  I  should  be  glad  to  have  a  few 
months  more — I  do  not  ask  years — just  to  set 
my  house  in  order  (a  desire  which  he  again  ex- 
pressed in  nearly  the  same  form) ;  but  he  knows 

H    H 


362  MEMOIR    OF   THE 

infinitely  well  what  is  best.  I  have  little  entan- 
glement with  this  world.' 

"  I  remarked  that,  sooner  or  later,  our  earthly 
house  of  this  tabernacle  must  come  down  to 
make  way  for  our  house  which  is  from  heaven. 
He  interrupted  me  before  I  had  finished  the  re- 
mark, saying,  '  yes  !  and  who  would  live  al- 
ways V 

"  '  Who  would  live  always  away  from  his  God  ?' 

(and  finished  that  beautiful  verse  from  one  of  his 
favourite  hymns)  ;  '  but,'  he  immediately  added, 
*  when  we  come  to  lie  on  a  dying  bed,  it  is  the 
simple  Word  of  God  which  must  support  the 
soul,  and  not  these  flashes  of  poetry.  Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled  ;  ye  believe  in  God ;  be- 
lieve also  in  me'  (and  several  of  the  following 
verses  from  John,  xiv.). 

"Once,  after  lying  for  some  time  silent,  he  ex- 
claimed, '  let  Israel  rejoice  in  Him  that  made 
him  !  Let  the  children  of  Zion  be  joyful  in  their 
King  !  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  always  ;  and  again, 
I  say,  rejoice  !' 

"  Early  on  Saturday  morning  (April  16),  when 
I  inquired  how  he  was,  he  replied,  '  O  !  I  am 
going  the  way  of  all  flesh  as  fast  as — '  Pres- 
ently he  took  my  hand  in  both  his,  and  then  laid 
his  hand  on  my  head,  and  said,  '  you  have  been 
anxious  that  my  life  might  be  spared,  but  look 
at  the  condition  of and  '  (two  old  and 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  363 

intimate  friends,  whose  old  age  had  passed  into 
a  second   childhood).      I  repeated  the  words, 

*  Abba  !  Father  !  all  things  are  possible  with 
Thee !'  '  Yes,'  he  added,  '  but  I  cannot  ask  ab- 
solutely. I  am  persuaded  that  a  sudden  remo- 
val is  more  desirable  than  to  linger  on  through 
many  years  of  old  age.  I  am  afraid  to  ask  for 
the  continuance  of  life.' 

"  Still  earlier  in  the  morning,  before  I  came 
into  the  room,  he  said  to  my  mother  and  sister, 

*  could  not  you  give  me  something  to  strengthen 
me,  and  enable  me  to  speak  more  distinctly  ? 
even  if  it  should  hurt  me  afterward,  I  wouldn't 
mind  that,  for  it  will  soon  be  over.  I  don't  ex- 
pect to  survive.  I  have  given  up  all  expecta- 
tion of  that,  whatever.  My  warfare  is  nearly 
accomplished — my  time  is  at  hand.' 

"  To  one  of  his  little  grandsons  (R.  R.  P.)  he 
said,  '  I  am  going  to  die,  but  God  will  live !' 

"  When  my  mother  was  moistening  his  hands, 
he  said,  '  O  how  sweet !  how  attentive  to  every 
want !'  I  remarked,  that  it  was  hardly  possible 
to  conceive  of  a  state  where  we  should  meet  and 
associate  with  each  other  in  perfect  health,  and 
youth,  and  joy ;  and  if  the  offices  of  Christian 
love  were  so  delightful  here,  what  will  they  be 
there  ?  '  Yes  !'  he  added,  '  and  if  we  cultivate 
them  now,  we  shall  possess  them  then.  They 
that  sow  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit  reap 
life  everlasting.' 


364  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

"  Again,  after  silence  for  some  time,  he  broke 
out,  with  a  deep  and  solemn  energy,  which  was 
very  remarkable,  into  these  exclamations,  *  How 
dark  !  how  dark  are  the  dispensations  of  provi- 
dence !  When  his  intention  is  our  prosperity 
and  happiness,  he  lays  the  axe  at  the  root  of 
everything  which  seems  calculated  to  produce 
the  fruit,'  and  more  to  the  same  effect. 

"  *  No  human  being  has  had  more  cause  to 
sing  of  mercy — mercy.  I  have  put  some  thoughts 
on  this  subject  on  scraps  of  paper,  which  I  in- 
tended to  have  finished'  (or  to  that  effect) ;  *  you 
will  find  them  among  my  papers.' 

"  I  asked  him  if  he  had  any  message  to  leave 
to  my  brothers,  in  the  event  of  his  departure  be- 
fore they  arrived.  He  said,  '  Leave  all  with 
God — all  with  God  !  Let  us  not  speak  of  any- 
thing earthly.'  I  inquired  if  he  retained  his  con- 
fidence in  colonization.  He  said,  '  entirely — as 
one  of  the  noblest  causes. — It  has  everything  to 
recommend  it — as  the  cause  of  humanity,  of  re- 
ligion, of  Africa.  Why  should  they  be  banished 
from  their  homes,  and  outcasts  from  the  family 
of  nations  ?  But,'  he  added,  *  let  us  not  speak 
of  anything  earthly.  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner  !  is  my  cry.' 

"  Once  he  lay  some  time  silent,  and  then  ex- 
claimed, with  great  fervour,  'what  magnificent 
designs !' 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  365 

"  In  the  midst  of  severe  pains,  *  I  w^ill  bear  the 
indignation  of  the  Lord,  because  I  have  sinned 
against  him.' 

"  Again,  in  a  broken  voice,  *  O !  entreat  your 
dear  brothers  and  sister — no  time  to  be  lost — all 
— all — friends  to  Christ !' 

"  '  I  never  knew  a  Christian  on  his  death-bed 
to  complain  of  his  trials.' — '  A  few  moments  of 
suffering,  and  an  eternity  of  enjoyment !' 

"  *  All  the  sufferings  of  the  believer  are  not 
hell,  but  they  are  all  the  hell  he  shall  ever  suf- 
fer!' 

"  He  awoke  from  a  short  sleep,  just  as  the  last 
Sabbath  morning  of  his  life  was  dawning,  and 
exclaimed,  with  a  strength  and  clearness  of  tone 
which  surprised  those  around  him, 

'  No  mortal  care  shall  seize  my  breast.' 

"  That  morning  we  thought  him  better.  His 
skin  was  softer,  his  respiration  easier,  and  his 
utterance  more  distinct;  but  Dr.  Van  Deursen,* 
who  was  with  him  about  half  past  six,  was  not 
much  impressed  by  these  favourable  symptoms, 
as  the  pulse  continued  equally  rapid.  About  8 
o'clock,  he  requested  that  we  would  all  unite 
around  his  bed  in  '  a  short  prayer,  that,  if  it  were 

*  A  tribute  of  filial  gratitude  is  due  to  the  more  than  profession- 
al assiduity  with  which  this  gentleman,  accompanied  by  the  ven- 
erable Dr.  Charles  Smith  as  consulting  physician,  attended  his 
last  hours. 

Hh2 


366  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

the  Lord's  will,  he  would  grant  him  a  speedy 
deliverance.'  We  then  knelt  around  him,  and 
offered  up  our  thanksgiving  to  the  Father  of 
spirits  that  he  had  created,  regenerated,  adopted, 
and  sanctified  the  soul  of  his  servant ;  that  he 
had  preserved  it  through  all  the  various  dis- 
cipline of  this  mortal  life,  and  made  it  ripe  for 
glory.  We  commended  it  to  him  who  had  loved 
it,  and  washed  it  in  his  own  blood.  We  could 
not  ask  that  our  dear  father  should  be  taken  from 
us,  and  we  could  not  ask  that  he  should  be  de- 
tained in  the  midst  of  suffering ;  but  we  prayed 
that,  when  the  hour  came,  he  might  be  merci- 
fully released  without  a  long  struggle. 

"  A  little  while  after,  he  said,  '  we  are  to  pray 
without  ceasing.  Offer  up  a  short  prayer  that 
the  Lord  would  grant  me  a  speedy  release  from 
this — lingering — conflict!'  Again:  'The  Lord, 
if  it  be  his  holy  will,  give  me  a  speedy  deliver- 
ance from  this  body  of  sin — of  sin  and  death.' 
His  utterance  was  very  indistinct,  but  his  up- 
lifted eye  and  hand  showed  that  he  was  in  prayer, 
and  we  could  occasionally  hear  such  exclama- 
tions as  the  following,  very  slowly  uttered,  and 
much  interrupted  :  'Blessed  Jesus  ! — dear  Sav- 
iour ! — support  me  1'  Once,  as  we  ceased  pray- 
ing, he  said,  '  Amen !  the  Father  heareth  al- 
ways.' '  Pray  that  the  Lord  would  shorten 
these  days  of  affliction  ; 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  367 

*  These  lively  hopes  we  owe 

To  Jesus'  dying  love  ; 
We  would  adore  his  grace  below, 
And  sing  his  power  above.' 

"Once,  after  being  silent  for  some  time,  he 
said,  *  O  grace — grace — grace  !  Grace  reigns 
through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord !' 

"  He  laid  his  hand  on  the  head  of  each  of  his 
little  grandsons,  R.  R.  P.,  A.  P.  I.,  and  A.  P.,  and 
gave  them  his  blessing,  and  expressed  his  de- 
sire (in  what  words  I  do  not  remember)  that 
they  might  be  followers  of  Christ.  He  told 
my  youngest  son  (four  years  old)  to  repeat  the 
words,  '  suffer  little  children,'  &c.,  which  he  did, 
and  then  he  spoke  to  him  of  the  happiness  he 
would  have  if  he  came  to  Christ.  '  Grandpa,' 
said  the  child,  *  are  you  going  to  die  V  His 
mother  tried  to  check  the  question,  but  he  re- 
ceived it  with  great  sweetness  and  gentleness, 
*  that  will  be  just  as — '  the  rest  we  could  not  hear. 

"  He  was  thrown  into  a  kind  of  rapture,  and 
we  were  all  exceedingly  melted,  when  one  of 
us  repeated  the  words,  '  they  shall  hunger  no 
more,  neither  shall  they  thirst  any  more,  neither 
shall  the  sun  light  on  them  nor  any  heat;  but 
the  Lamb,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne, 
shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them  unto  fount- 
ains of  living  water,  and  God  shall  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  their  eyes.' 


368  MEMOIR   OP    THE 


"  He  spoke  with  great  fervour  of  our  infinite 
debt  of  gratitude  for  the  love  of  Jesus.  '  But 
for  him,'  he  said,  '  we  must  have  suffered  with 
apostate  angels  to  all  eternity  the  fruits  of  our 
apostacy.' 

"  Dr.  Janeway  spent  a  few  minutes  at  his  bed- 
side on  this  (Sabbath)  afternoon.  When  he  in- 
quired how  he  was,  he  replied,  *  as  I  must  ex- 
pect to  be  in  this  body  of  sin  and  death.'  When 
he  asked, '  do  you  find  the  Saviour  near  to  you  V 
he  said,  '  yes.  I  do  not  feel  that  warmth  of 
love,  that  fervency  of  affection  as  before,  but  I 
rely  fixedly  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 

"  Mr.  Phelps  (Anson  G.)  called  to  see  him  in 
the  evening.  When  he  bade  him  farewell, '  fare- 
well,' said  my  father ;  '  let  us  live  near  to  Christ, 
and  then  all  will  be  well,  eternally  well.'  His 
interview  with  this  highly-valued  friend  was 
very  aflfecting,  but  the  conversation  is  not  re- 
membered. 

"  Towards  night  his  sufferings  from  obstruct- 
ed respiration  became  very  great.  He  had  oft- 
en expressed  the  desire  that  he  might  depart  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  we  thought  he  would  not  sur- 
vive the  day.  He  lingered,  however,  through 
the  night,  though,  as  we  thought,  in  great  suf- 
fering. When  we  asked  him,  however,  if  he 
suffered  much,  he  nodded  his  head,  and  said,  *  a 
little.'     But  he  often  cried,  *  when  will  this  lin- 


REV,  DR.  PROUDFIT.  369 

gering  conflict  end  ?  O  for  a  speedy  and  easy 
transition  !  O  for  deliverance  from  this  corrupt- 
ible body — this  body  of  sin  and  death  !  Come, 
blessed  Jesus,  dear  Saviour,  come  !  come !  I 
long  to  depart.' 

"  Feeling  much  exhausted  and  unwell,  I  went 
to  bed  about  eleven  o'clock.  Between  four  and 
five  I  was  awakened  by  my  mother's  almost 
distracted  cries  in  my  room,  *  O  pray,  pray  for 
your  dear  father !  He  is  suffering  dreadfully. 
O  that  I  could  see  him  released  !'  When  I  went 
into  his  room,  he  said,  *just  unite  in  a  short 
prayer  that  the  will  of  the  Lord  may  be  done.' 

"  Sometimes,  when  his  lips  were  moving,  we 
could  distinguish  these  and  the  like  expressions, 
*  blessed  Jesus  ! — dear  Saviour  ! — O  for  that  tri- 
umphant flight ! — I  long  to  depart  1' 

" '  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,'  said  I, 
*is  the  death  of  his  saints.'  He  immediately 
added,  *  O  Lord,  truly  I  am  thy  servant ;  I  am 
thy  servant.' 

" '  Did  you  speak,  dear  father  V   *  Yes — but — ' 

"  We  repeated  to  him,  at  short  intervals,  the 
following  and  similar  passages:  'I  know  that 
my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand  in 
the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ;  and  though  after 
my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my 
flesh  shall  I  see  God.'  '  In  all  these  things  we 
are  more  than  conquerors,  through  him  that 
24 


370  .    MEMOIR    OF    THE 

Joved  us.'  '  Though  our  outward  man  perish, 
yet  our  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day;  for 
our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment* 
worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal 
weight  of  glory.'  '  Yet  a  little  while,  and  He 
that  shall  come  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry.' 
When  these  words  were  repeated  to  him,  his 
beaming  eye  and  uplifted  hand,  and  the  inartic- 
ulate moving  of  his  lips,  showed  how  precious  a 
cordial  to  his  soul  was  the  word  of  life. 

"  Once,  after  his  articulation  was  much  broken, 
he  said  something  which  we  could  not  under- 
stand. He  repeated  the  words  again  and  again, 
and  raised  himself  in  the  bed,  showing,  by  his 
countenance  and  manner,  the  utmost  anxiety 
that  we  should  catch  his  words.  At  length 
we  understood  him  to  say,  *  Isaiah,  fifty-ninth — 
twenty-first.'  When  we  repeated  these  words, 
and  asked  him  if  we  were  right,  he  nodded  his 
head  with  an  expression  of  great  satisfaction  and 
joy,  and  sank  back  upon  his  pillow.  In  behalf 
of  all  his  posterity  (for  whose  eye  this  is  espe- 
cially recorded),  most  solemnly  and  fervently 
we  would  say.  Amen !  Remember,  O  Lord, 
tliy  word,  on  which  thou  didst  cause  thy  dying 
servant  to  hope  ! 

"  He  had,  many  years  before,  intimated  his 
desire  that  he  might  take  his  long  rest  'by  the 
side  of  his  revered  father.'     Once,  in  the  course 


REV.    DR.    PROUDFIT.  371 

of  his  illness,  he  began  to  say  something  to  my 
mother  on  this  subject,  but  she  interrupted  him, 
telling  him  '  that  it  was  quite  needless ;  that 
she  knew  all  his  wishes;  that  he  should  be 
buried  from  no  other  place  than  his  own  home 
at  Salem,  and  rest  in  the  very  spot  he  desired.' 
At  this  assurance  a  smile  of  unspeakable  rest 
and  delight  came  over  his  features,  and  he  al- 
luded to  the  subject  no  more. 

"  A  remarkable  proof  of  self-possession  occur- 
red but  a  short  time  before  his  death.  He  at- 
tempted, with  much  effort  and  difficulty,  to  say 
something  to  me,  which  I  at  length  understood 
to  remind  me  that  the  carriage  must  be  sent  to 
meet  my  (youngest)  brother,  w^ho  was  expected 
to  arrive  by  the  cars  of  that  morning ;  so  ac- 
curate was  his  recollection  of  time;  so  strong, 
even  in  death,  his  parental  love  !* 

"  It  is  delightful  to  recall  the  love  which  was 
so  intensely  diffused  around  that  dying  scene, 
and  expressed,  not  only  by  his  words,  but  by  his 
countenance,  the  glance  of  his  eye,  the  pressure 
of  his  hands,  which  were  placed  on  the  head  or 

*  This  fact  might  be  added  to  the  very  ingenious  and  striking 
argument  by  which  Sharon  Turner  asserts  the  immortaUty  of  the 
soul,  from  the  manifestation  of  identity  and  individuality  in  every 
idea  and  expression  to  the  last  moment  of  life.  See  his  interest- 
ing statement  and  illustration  of  this  doctrine,  w^ith  a  great  variety 
of  examples,  m  the  second  volume  of  his  Sacred  History  of  the 
Creation,  Letter  27, 


372  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

around  the  neck,  now  of  one,  now  of  another  of 
the  weeping  circle  around  him,  while,  with  his 
dying  voice,  he  directed  us  to  that  Saviour  who, 
through  his  earthly  pilgrimage,  had  *  redeemed 
him  from  all  evil,'  and  who  (to  use  one  of  his 
latest  expressions,  pronounced  with  great  so- 
lemnity and  energy)  was  '  his  all  in  all/  While 
the  expressions, '  dear  husband  !'  '  dear  father  !' 
resounded  around  his  dying  bed,  he  said,  '  say, 
rather,  dear  Saviour  !' 

"  He  was  in  perfect  possession  of  his  faculties 
to  the  last,  as  far  as  we  could  judge  by  the  ques- 
tions we  addressed  to  him  occasionally,  till  we 
saw  that  he  was  in  the  last  struggle — if  it  could 
be  called  a  struggle ;  for  his  breathing  ceased 
gradually  and  easily,  and  without  painful  effort. 
About  half  an  hour  before  his  death,  I  said,  *  my 
dear  father,  is  the  Lord  Jesus  present  with  you?' 
'  Yes  !'  *  Are  you  afraid  to  die  V  *  No  !'  Sig- 
nifying both  by  the  movement  of  his  head,  as 
articulation  had  become  extremely  difficult  and 
painful. 

"  He  expired  about  half  past  nine  o'clock,  on 
the  morning  of  April  17th,  1843. 

"As  soon  as  he  had  ceased  to  breathe,  we 
joined  in  a  solemn  act  of  adoration  and  thanks- 
giving to  Him  who  had  preserved  him  through 
all  the  temptations  and  sorrows  of  this  mortal 
life ;  had  supported  him  in  the  last  conflict,  and 


REV.   DR.   PROUDFIT.  373 

given  him  (we  doubted  not)  an  abundant  en- 
trance into  His  everlasting  kingdom. 

"  It  was  wonderful,  my  dear  friend,  how  com- 
pletely the  sting  and  bitterness  of  death  had 
passed  away;  its  terror  at  the  moment,  its 
gloom  in  the  retrospect.  The  shades  of  even- 
ing were  soon  gathering  around  us  ;  but  not  so 
(we  remembered)  in  the  world  which  he  had 
entered  ;  *  there  shall  be  no  night  there.'  When 
we  sat  down  to  the  family  repast,  we  were  re- 
minded, by  his  vacant  place  at  the  table,  that  he 
was  now  one  of  that  happy  company  who  *  shall 
hunger  no  more,  neither  thirst  any  more.'  The 
first  buds  of  spring  were  just  opening  around 
us ;  the  season,  of  all  others,  in  which  his  cheer- 
ful spirit  delighted  ;  and  a  feeling  of  sorrow  was 
expressed  by  one  of  our  number  that  he  was  not 
here  to  enjoy  it.  But  where  was  he  ?  In  that 
*  land  of  pure  delight,' 

•  Where  everlasting  spring  abides, 
And  never-withering  flowers,' 

O,   divine    Redeemer !    thou    hast    conquered 
death ! 

"In  the  night  following  there  was  a  terrific 
thunder-storm.  The  bursts  of  thunder  and  flashes 
of  lightning,  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  at  that  un- 
usual season,  were  very  awful.  He  had  always 
shown  a  sensitiveness,  not  unmingled  with  ter- 
ror, at  these  displays  of  the  *  terrible  majesty'  of 
I  I 


374  MEMOIU    OF    TilK 

God  ;  but  now,  when  I  entered  the  chamber  of 
death  (the  windows  of  which  were  open),  how 
deep  its  repose  !  how  solemn  its  stihness  !  How 
*  great  and  terrible'  that  day  when  'the  trump 
of  God'  shall  break  even  this  deep  sleep  !  when 
all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  the  voice  of 
the  Son  of  God,  and  shall  come  forth ! 

"  The  next  morning  his  remains  were  removed 
to  New- York,  on  the  way  to  Salem.  A  funeral 
service  was  performed  in  the  afternoon  at  the 
house  of  my  brother-in-law,  Richard  Irvin,  Esq. 
A  large  assemblage  of  his  old  friends  wera 
present.  The  undertaker,  however,  having  ex- 
amined the  remains,  pronounced  it  improper  to 
open  them.  A  very  impressive  address  was 
delivered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Knox,  prayer  was 
offered  up  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Spring,  and  the  ben- 
ediction pronounced  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  M'Laren. 

"  The  remaining  circumstances  of  the  remo- 
val and  interment  are  related  in  the  following: 
letter,  which  I  addressed  to  my  mother  from 
Salem  on  the  morning  after  the  funeral.  If 
some  of  these  details  should  appear  unsuited  to 
meet  the  public  eye,  I  shall,  I  hope,  stand  excu- 
sed, by  the  conviction  that  they  will  not  be  un- 
interesting to  his  friends,  and  still  more  by  the 
strong  desire  I  feel  that  the  whole  scene  may 
thus  be  presented  to  the  eye  of  his  own  descend- 
ants ;  *  that  the  generation  to  come  might  know 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  375 

them — ^even  the  children  which  should  be  bom 
— that  they  might  set  their  hope  in  God.'* 

"  Salem,  Saturday  morning,  April  22(1,  1843. 
"  Join  with  us,  dear  mother,  in  acknowledg- 
ing the  goodness  of  our  heavenly  Father,  which 
has  Been  signally  manifested  to  us  in  our  jour- 
ney, and  in  every  circumstance  relating  to  the 
solemn  rites  which  we  came  to  perform.  An 
accident  on  board  the  Rochester  about  midnight 
obliged  us  to  pass  to  another  steamboat  between 
West  Point  and  Poughkeepsie ;  but  as  Captain 
Houghton  very  kindly  offered  us  a  separate  boat, 
the  transfer  was  made  without  any  painful  cir- 
cumstance. This,  however,  as  the  exchange  of 
boats  was  made  from  one  to  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  reminded  us  of  the  goodness  of  God  in 
ordering  that  none  of  the  ladies  should  accompa- 
ny us.  In  the  very  accident  itself,  however,  we 
saw  and  adored  the  hand  of  God,  as  it  gave  oc- 
casion for  a  public  acknowledgment  of  the  mer- 
ciful interposition  of  the  Most  High  in  our  pres- 
ervation from  imminent  danger.  This  was  done 
by  the  assembled  passengers  on  board  the  steam- 
boat to  which  we  had  passed,  the  next  morning, 
and  an  opportunity  was  thus  enjoyed  of  speak- 
ing to  a  great  number  (about  200)  the  words  of 
this  life.  The  exercises  were  conducted  by  Dr. 
Edwards  (of  Boston)  and  myself     Dr.  E.  allu- 

*  Ps.  Ixxviii.,  G,  7. 


376  MEMOIR    OF    THE 

ded  in  a  very  feeling  manner  to  the  death  of 

*  that  distinguished  man  who  had  recently  de- 
parted/ spoke  of  the  peace  and  joy  of  his  last 
moments,  and  earnestly  exhorted  them  all  to 

*  live  the  life  of  the  righteous,  that  they  might 
die  his  death.'  The  chairman  of  the  meeting, 
and  many  around  me,  were  in  tears  ;  the  good 
seed  was  scattered  over  a  soil  softened  both  by 
the  memory  of  their  own  recent  deliverance 
and  by  general  grief  for  the  death  of  one  whom 
all  venerated  and  loved,  and  will,  I  cannot  doubt, 
bring  forth  fruit  to  life  everlasting.  So  you  see, 
dear  mother,  even  the  mortal  remains  of  our  be- 
loved father  carry  a  blessing  along  with  them. 
After  the  exercises,  Mr.  W.  V.  came  to  me  on 
the  back  part  of  the  upper  deck,  where  I  was 
alone,  introduced  himself  to  me,  and  spoke  with 
much  affection,  and  in  tears,  of  the  memory  of 
father.  '  I  shall  never  forget,'  said  he,  *  his  last 
prayer  in  my  family.  I  never  knew  a  more 
heavenly-minded  man.'  Some,  whom  I  never 
saw  before,  from  different  parts  of  the  country, 
accosted  me  with  similar  expressions.  Let  us 
magnify  the  grace  of  God,  which  was  in  him, 
dear  mother,  and  be  comforted  by  these  proofs, 
that  the  virtue  of  his  example  and  instruction 
is  not  ended  by  his  death.  We  reached  Troy 
about  half  past  one  o'clock.  A  number  of  rel- 
atives and  friends  had  assembled  to  meet  us  in 


REV.  DR.  PROUDFIT.  377 

the  morning,  but  as  our  arrival  had  been  re- 
tarded for  seven  or  eight  hours,  they  had  mostly 
dispersed.  I  must,  hov^rever,  omit  particulars 
just  now.  We  left  Troy  (J.,  A.,  E.,  and  my- 
self) about  three  o'clock  P.M.,  and  reached 
Salem  at  three  in  the  morning.  Our  friends 
had  vi^aited  for  us  till  nearly  midnight,  but  had 
given  up  expecting  us,  and  gone  to  bed.  We 
stopped  at  the  hotel,  and  E.  and  A.  went  for- 
ward to  ascertain  the  condition  of  the  house. 
It  had  been  opened  and  warmed  by  our  kind 
friends,  and  the  remains  were  therefore  imme- 
diately conveyed  thither,  and  left,  with  proper 
attendance,  till  morning.  When  the  two  came 
back,  having  made  these  arrangements,  E.  said 
everything  about  and  in  the  house  looked  as  nat- 
ural, and  like  old  times,  as  if  it  had  just  been  left 
by  the  family  (so  considerate  and  thoughtful  of 
our  feelings  had  our  dear  friends  here  been). 
*And,'  said  he,  'just  as  we  came  out  of  the  front 
gate,  a  little  bird  sprang  up  and  sang  so  sweetly 
in  the  moonlight !'  A  warm  and  lovely  morning 
was  another  smile  of  a  kind  providence  ;  but 
the  greatest  indulgence  I  have  yet  to  mention. 
I  had  not  the  least  idea  that  any  of  us  would 
ever  behold  his  countenance  again,  and  was  pe- 
culiarly distressed  on  account  of  A.,  to  whom 
I  had  not  mentioned  the  decision  of  the  under- 
taker in  New- York,  who,  after  having  examined 
I  f  2 


378  MEMulK    OF    THE 

Ihc  remains,  thought  they  ought  not  to  be  seen 
again.  But  when  I  directed  that  one  friend  alone 
should  examine  them  here,  what  was  my  surprise 
and  thankfuhiess,  dear  mother,  to  learn  that  all 
discoloration  had  vanished — that  not  the  slightest 
injury  had  been  received  by  the  removal  (not- 
withstanding the  frightful  condition  of  the  roads), 
and  that  the  features' were  perfectly  calm,  placid, 
and  natural  !  J.,  A.,  and  myself  passed  about 
an  hour  alone  with  them  (in  the  east  parlour), 
and  then  gave  way  to  the  other  relatives.  The 
services  of  the  interment  commenced  about  two. 
It  was  found  that  but  a  small  part  of  the  multi- 
tude assembled  could  get  into  the  house,  and  it 
was  the  general  wish  that  the  body  should  be 
conveyed  to  the  church.  We  consented  that 
this  should  be  done  after  the  services  had  begun 
at  the  house.  They  were  begun  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Mairs,  by  singing  the  last  four  verses  of  the 
16th  Psalm.  With  mingled  sorrow  and  joy  the 
great  assembly  united  in  the  words,  which,  you 
know,  he  so  much  delighted  in, 

"  'Because  my  soul  in  grave  to  dwell 
Shall  not  be  left  by  thee  ; 
Nor  wilt  thou  leave  thine  Holy  One 
Corruption  to  see. 

Thou  wilt  me  show  the  path  of  life ; 

Of  joys  there  is  full  store  : 
Before  thy  face,  at  thy  right  hand. 

Are  pleasures  evermore.' 


REV.  DR.  PROiTDFIT.  379 

Prayer  was  then  offered  by  Mr.  Mairs,  and  the 
procession  moved  to  the  church.  The  body 
was  placed  in  the  aisle  before  the  pulpit,  and  an 
appropriate  and  eloquent  address  delivered  by 
Mr.  Halley,  and  prayer  by  Mr.  Lambert.  The 
congregation  then  passed  around,  and  looked 
once  more  on  the  countenance  of  their  beloved 
.pastor,  the  coffin  having  been  removed  to  the 
door  of  the  church  for  that  purpose,  and  their 
groans  and  tears  showed  the  depth  of  their  un- 
feigned sorrow.  We  then  proceeded  to  the 
graveyard,  and  laid  him  in  his  long  repose  by 
the  side  of  his  father's  tomb.  While  the  solemn 
ceremony  of  committing  '  ashes  to  ashes — dust 
to  dust,'  was  proceeding,  a  sweet  and  solemn 
strain  of  music  arose  at  a  short  distance:  it  was 
a  hymn  sung  by  the  choir  of  Mr.  Lambert's 
church,  expressive  of  the  hope,  joy,  and  thanks- 
giving with  which  a  Christian's  death,  or,  rather, 
his  victory  over  death,  should  be  contemplated. 
— There,  in  the  spot  which  his  heart  desired,  he 
sleeps  in  Jesus  till  the  voice  of  the  archangel 
and  the  trump  of  God  shall  awaken  the  dead, 
and  *  they  that  have  done  good  shall  come  forth 
to  the  resurrection  of  life.' 

"  Yours,  dear  mother, 

"  Most  affectionately, 

«  J.  P." 


380        MEMOIR    OF   THE    REV.  Dll.  PROUDFIT. 

"  Thus,  my  dear  friend,  I  have  endeavoured 
to  comply  with  your  request.  The  deepest  im- 
pressions left  on  my  own  mind  by  the  scenes 
I  have  described  and  the  character  I  have  at- 
tempted to  review,  were  these :  the  pure  glory 
of  a  benevolent  and  heavenly  life  ; — the  wisdom 
and  the  happiness  of  unreserved  devotedness 
to  Christ ; — the  divine  power  of  the  Christian 
hope  to  exalt  the  soul  above  the  sufferings  of 
the  body,  and  the  awful  fears  which  attend  our 
departure  from  life ; — and,  on  the  whole,  the 
truth  of  the  inspired  declaration,  that  'godli- 
ness is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise 
of  the  life  that  now  is  and  of  that  which  is  to 
come.' 

"  May  the  same  *  precious  faith,'  the  same 
glorious  and  divine  hope,  be  the  portion  in  life 
and  the  joy  in  death  of  all  who  may  read  these 
pages. 

"  I  am,  my  dear  friend,  yours  very  truly  and 
respectfully,  J.  Proudfit. 

♦•  The  Rev.  Dr.  Forsyth." 


CONCLUSION. 

The  preceding  letter  renders  it  quite  useless 
to  enter  into  a  minute  analysis  of  Dr.  Proudfit's 
character,  or  to  indulge  in  lengthened  reflections 
upon  his  career  as  a  man  and  a  minister  of 
Christ.  Yet  a  few  concluding  words  will  not 
be  inappropriate.  "  He  was  a  good  man,  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith."  The  secret  of 
his  life,  of  his  personal  holiness,  his  unwearied 
labours  to  do  good  to  others,  is  well  expressed 
by  Macarius  in  the  brief  sentence  (on  the  title- 
page)  from  his  Homily  on  keeping  the  Heart — 
"  the  head  of  every  virtue  and  the  source  of  all 
good  works  is  constant  perseverance  in  prayer." 
He  was  eminently  a  man  of  prayer — one  who 
continued  instant  in  prayer,  walking  closely  with 
his  God,  and  therefore  was  he  honoured  to  fill 
up  a  sphere  of  activity,  and  attain  a  measure  of 
usefulness  far  beyond  anything  which  mere  in- 
tellectual abilities  or  scientific  attainments,  even 
though  they  were  of  the  highest  order,  could 
achieve. 

The  grand  desire  of  Dr.  Proudfit's  heart  was 
for  the  power  to  do  good  on  a  large  scale.  His 
early  and  oft-repeated  petition  was,  that  the 
Lord  would  bestow  upon  him  those  gifts  and 
graces  which  would  specially  fit  him  to  act  well 


382  coNCLUsroN. 

his  part  in  the  age  and  the  country  in  which  h!s 
lot  was  cast ;  and,  certainly,  every  one  who 
reads  with  care  the  records  of  his  life,  must  own 
that  this  prayer  was  not  unanswered.  To  the 
town  of  Salem,  where  he  so  long  resided  as  a 
Christian  pastor — to  the  county  of  Washington 
— to  the  early  settlers  in  Northern  and  Western 
New- York — to  multitudes  in  many  other  quar- 
ters of  our  country,  and  to  the  dwellers  in  other 
lands,  he  was  in  various  ways  the  minister  of 
lasting  good. 

The  history  of  Dr.  Proudfit  shows — and  this 
we  deem  to  be  one  of  its  most  important  lessons 
— ^^how  extensive  an  influence  may  be  acquired, 
and  how  large  an  amount  of  good  may  be  done, 
by  persons  whose  position  would  seem  to  be  not 
the  most  favourable  for  wide-extended  useful- 
ness ;  it  proves  that  this  depends  much  more 
upon  the  spirit  the  minister  possesses,  than  the 
place  in  which  he  is  settled.  The  retired  coun- 
try pastor,  while  diligently  feeding  the  flock  of 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  him  overseer, 
at  the  same  time  can,  if  he  will,  in  various  w^ays 
labour  most  beneficially  for  others  far  beyond 
the  narrow  limits  of  his  parish.  In  saying  this, 
however,  we  would  not  be  understood  as  urging 
the  adoption  of  those  precise  methods  of  benev- 
olence which  Dr.  Proudfit  employed,  and  with 
such  liappy  success  ;  in  the  altered  circumstan- 


CONCLUSION.  383 

ces  of  the  Church  and  the  country,  these  may 
not  be  so  needful  now,  nor  promise  the  same 
rich  results  that  were  produced  by  them  forty 
years  ago.  But  what  we  would  urge  with  all 
earnestness  and  affection  is  the  cultivation  of  the 
principles,  the  spirit  which  prompted  the  vener- 
able subject  of  this  memoir  to  publish  so  many 
tracts  and  sermons,  and  to  make  so  many  jour- 
neys through  the  wilderness,  that  he  might  break 
to  the  scattered  sheep  dwellinor  in  it  the  bread 
of  everlasting  life. 

The  whole  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  Church  of 
God  is,  in  the  present  day,  widely  different  from 
what  it  was  when  Dr.  Proudfit  entered  the  min- 
istry. Fifty  years  since,  the  missionary  move- 
ments were  just  beginning  ;  the  long-wished-for 
days  when  the  followers  of  the  Redeemer  shall 
see  eye  to  eye  were  thought  by  many  to  be  close 
at  hand  ;  the  ancient  might  and  mastery  of  anti- 
Christian  Rome  appeared  ready  to  vanish  away: 
in  a  word,  it  seemed  as  if  the  first  rays  of  mil- 
lennial glory  were  already  beaming  upon  the 
Church.  How  changed  the  scene  now  !  An- 
ti-Christ is  fast  resuming  his  former  sway  over 
the  monarchies  of  Europe,  and  even  in  this  land 
of  freedom,  the  number  of  his  followers,  and  the 
power  of  his  influence  are  increasing  with  such 
rapid  strides,  as  to  awaken  the  anxious  fears  of 
the  Christian  patriot ;  controversies  which  were 


384  CONCLUSION. 

once  supposed  to  have  been  permanently  settled 
have  been  revived,  and  are  carried  on  with  a 
deeper  earnestness  than  ever.  We  know  not 
what  may  be  in  the  womb  of  Providence  ;  but 
ours  are  evidently  eventful  times  ;  well  there- 
fore does  it  become  the  youthful  minister,  and 
all  who  are  looking  forward  to  the  sacred  office, 
to  study  their  signs,  and  to  seek  with  especial 
earnestness  from  the  Church's  Head  the  gifts 
and  graces  that  shall  fit  them  for  their  age,  that 
in  the  coming  day  of  action  it  may  be  said  of 
them,  as  of  the  men  of  Issachar  of  old,  "  These 
have  knowledge  of  the  times,  and  know  what 
Israel  ought  to  do." 


THE    END. 


Date  Due 

<i) 

